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Peter Laviolette notches his 100th victory as Flyers coach against franchise he guided to a Stanley Cup

RALEIGH, N.C. - It seemed fitting that Flyers coach Peter Laviolette reached a milestone Tuesday in his old stomping grounds.

Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky made 35 saves against the Hurricanes. (Karl B DeBlaker/AP Photo)
Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky made 35 saves against the Hurricanes. (Karl B DeBlaker/AP Photo)Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. - It seemed fitting that Flyers coach Peter Laviolette reached a milestone Tuesday in his old stomping grounds.

Coaching in the arena where he guided Carolina to the 2006 Stanley Cup, Laviolette notched his 100th win as the Flyers' coach in a 2-1 victory over the Hurricanes at the RBC Center.

Rookie Sean Couturier snapped a 1-1 tie by scoring early in the third period, and Sergei Bobrovsky - who has won four of his last five starts - was solid in the nets as the Flyers rebounded from Sunday's disastrous finish in Ottawa.

Bobrovsky (9-3-1) made 35 saves and continued to play like the team's No. 1 goalie.

"He's calm, and with every save he makes, he plays with confidence and control," said defenseman Kimmo Timonen, who played a team-high 23 minutes, 36 seconds. "He knows where the puck is. . . . He knows where the rebound is, and he plays the puck pretty well, too, and that obviously helps the defense. Like today, he made a couple of big breakup passes under pressure."

Couturier, who was set up by rookie Harry Zolnierczyk, scored for the second consecutive game; he had broken a 21-game goal-less streak in the loss to the Senators. Zolnierczyk had one of the Flyers' 17 blocked shots before Couturier scored from the right circle.

"We had a few games where we lost the lead in the third, and this was a game we had a chance to win in the third and we made sure we did that," Zolnierczyk said.

Brayden Schenn, another rookie, scored the Flyers' first goal, helping them win the season series against Carolina, three games to one.

Laviolette is 100-59-21 since replacing John Stevens during the 2009-10 season.

"I'm happy to be here and be a Flyer," Laviolette said. "I hope there's 500 more."

The L.A. Connection - Schenn and Wayne Simmonds - combined to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead with 15:40 left in the second period. The Flyers acquired Schenn, Simmonds and a No. 2 draft pick in 2012 in the deal last June that sent Mike Richards to Los Angeles.

Schenn, on a clever pass, set up Simmonds in front, but Cam Ward stopped the winger's backhander. Schenn then knocked the rebound into the empty net to put the Flyers ahead.

It was Schenn's second career NHL goal, and first indoors. His first was scored against the New York Rangers in the Flyers' 3-2 Winter Classic loss at Citizens Bank Park.

Carolina tied it on Jerome Samson's first NHL goal in his initial game this season - and 31st of his career. He became the fifth player to score his first NHL goal against the Flyers this season, converting a rebound with 7:23 left in the second period.

The Flyers were coming off a third-period collapse, one in which they coughed up a 4-2 lead and dropped a 6-4 decision in Ottawa. With that embarrassment on their minds, they figured to come out swarming against the lowly Hurricanes.

Didn't happen.

Instead, Carolina dictated the tempo and had the majority of scoring chances until the last five minutes of the opening period. Carolina held an 11-4 shots advantage before the Flyers awoke and had a couple of quality chances - and five shots - in the latter part of the scoreless first period.

Led by Jakub Voracek's eight shots, the Flyers finished with a 37-36 shots edge.

"Everybody knows we can score goals. That's not a problem. But these 6-4 and 5-4 games, that's not us," Timonen said. "You're not going to win a Stanley Cup playing like that. It's more 2-1 and 3-2 games. We have to learn and play like that.""

"We took a step in the right direction, but we still can be better," Laviolette said.

Carolina, which lost the services of defenseman Jaroslav Spacek when he was hit in the face by Timonen's second-period shot, fell into last place in the 15-team Eastern Conference.

"These two points might be crucial, and the other team, obviously, they don't need these points," said Timonen, whose Flyers are fourth in the East.