PHILADELPHIA _ In their biggest game of the season, Flyers coach Dave Hakstol rolled the dice and used a goalie, Brian Elliott, who hadn't played in nearly two months because of an injury.
The decision didn't work, but the Flyers bailed out their shaky goalie Thursday night at the electric Wells Fargo Center.
Jake Voracek scored from the right circle with 5:45 left to lift the Flyers to a crucial 4-3 win over Carolina.
It was Voracek's 20th goal and it turned out to be the game-winner.
Elliott made perhaps his best save of the night with 5:10 left, stopping Hayden Fleury on a tip-in attempt in front.
The Hurricanes had tied the game at 3-3 when Jordan Staal beat Elliott from nearly an impossible sharp angle with 6:19 to go.
Three-plus minutes before that ugly goal, Claude Giroux took a drop pass from Sean Couturier (two assists) and scored from the high slot with 9:42 left, ripping a shot into the right corner to give snap a 2-2 tie.
With the win, the Flyers reduced their magic number to clinch a playoff spot to one point. If Florida doesn't win against Boston on Thursday _ the game was tied at 2-2 in the third period _ the Flyers will clinch a berth.
The Flyers tied the score at 2-2 thanks to relentless work by defenseman Ivan Provorov and the patience of Couturier.
From deep in the right the right corner, Couturier waited for the charging Provorov to get in position before whipping a pass out front, and the second-year defenseman scored on his own rebound to tie the game at 2-all with 5:04 left in the second. It was Provorov's 16th goal _ 10 more than he scored in his rookie season _ and third in five games.
Provorov hit the post with a first-period shot.
About six minutes before Provorov's goal, the Hurricanes nearly took a 3-1 lead, but Sebastian Aho missed a golden chance after a turnover by Andrew MacDonald in front.
The Flyers had a 28-13 shots domination in the first 40 minutes, and Carolina goalie Scott Darling _ who took just a 3.15 goals-against average and .888 save percentage into the game _ was the main reason the Hurricanes weren't behind.
In the opening period, Darling's counterpart, Elliott, looked rusty in his first game since Feb. 10.
That was the risk Hakstol took when he decided Elliott, who had been rehabbing after core-muscle surgery, was ready to play in such a critical game.
Despite a 15-7 shots advantage, the Flyers faced a 2-1 deficit after the first period.
Defenseman Klas Dahlbeck scored his first goal of the season, a wrist shot from the high slot that beat Elliott to the glove side and gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead with 6:15 left in the first. Twenty-six seconds later, Elliott denied Brock McGinn on a breakaway.
The Flyers then squandered a two-on-one, but Michael Raffl picked up the loose puck and scored from out front, to tie the game at 1-1 with 5:22 left in the first.
"I drove the net and stopped there," said Raffl, who played on the top line while Travis Konecny dropped down to the third unit. "That's where the puck is going to end up and I was lucky enough to put one home."
Just 14 seconds later, however, Carolina took a 2-1 lead when Aho, from behind the goal line, whipped a shot off the back of Elliott and into the net. Elliott stopped just five of seven shots in the first period.
The Flyers took just a 20-12-6 home record into the game, and actually had more points on the road (20-13-8) than at the Wells Fargo Center heading into Thursday.
The Flyers finish the regular season Saturday afternoon by hosting the New York Rangers. They are 2-1 this season against the Blueshirts, who are out of the playoff picture and, like Carolina, are playing the role of a spoiler.
