Hurricanes vs. Flyers Game 1: Key takeaways as Carolina steamrolls Philadelphia

AtlanticBruinsCanadiensLightningMaple LeafsPanthersRed WingsSabresSenatorsMetropolitanBlue JacketsCapitalsDevilsFlyersHurricanesIslandersPenguinsRangersCentralAvalancheBlackhawksBluesJetsMammothPredatorsStarsWildPacificCanucksDucksFlamesGolden KnightsKingsKrakenOilersSharksScores & ScheduleStandingsPodcastsFantasyNHL OddsNHL PicksPlayoff bracketStanley Cup tiersNHL Draft rankingRed Light NewsletterNHL Playoffs The Canes haven't trailed through five playoff games in 2025-26 thus far. Josh Lavallee / NHLI via Getty Images Share article4RALEIGH, N.C. — The Carolina Hurricanes had to wait seven days between finishing their first-round sweep of the Ottawa Senators and starting their second-round series against the Philadelphia Flyers. That’s enough time for minor injuries to heal. It’s also enough time for rust to set in. “If we play good, people will be like it was the rest,” defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere said during the layoff. “If we play bad, it’ll be like it was the rest. So, you know, it goes both ways.” It went the first way. Hurricanes forward Logan Stankoven scored twice and the Hurricanes looked every bit the top seed in the Eastern Conference, beating Philadelphia, 3-0, on Saturday night. The Flyers, who eliminated the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday, managed 18 total shots on Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen and failed to generate more than one total expected goal until late in the game. Game 2 is Monday at Lenovo Center — an NHL decision that, due to scheduling conflicts at Philadelphia’s Xfinity Mobile Arena, wasn’t announced until shortly before puck drop. There were a number of post-whistle scrums in the latter half of the third period. Blake and Flyers forward Trevor Zegras went after one another with 11:46 to go, with Zegras taking a couple shots at Blake, who appeared to slash Zegras just before that. Both earned 10-minute misconducts. Philadelphia’s Travis Konecny and Carolina’s Taylor Hall grappled with each other at that point, too. Konecny may have been upset with Hall for running over Christian Dvorak earlier with a hard, clean hit into the wall. A few minutes later, Gostisbehere took a subtle shot at Luke Glendening after Andersen froze the puck, drawing the attention of Nick Seeler, who flew in and flattened the Hurricanes defenseman. Gostisbehere and Seeler were tagged with 10-minute misconducts, as well. Stankoven and his linemates had a remarkable series against the Ottawa Senators, and that carried over into Game 1. Stankoven now has six goals and an assist in six postseason games and has opened the scoring in four of them. Still just 23 years and 65 days old, he’s the youngest player to begin a postseason on a five-game goal streak. “He’s confident because he’s prepared, right? He’s put in the work,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said before the game. “And that’s really what it’s all about in anything you do. You want the test. When you study for it, like, ‘Give me the test.’ And this kid’s been studying his craft for a long time.” Blake assisted on Stankoven’s first goal and added one of his own in the second period. Hall assisted on the latter, getting all three members of Carolina’s second line on the scoresheet. The Flyers have made it no secret that winger Owen Tippett is dealing with … something. But it was still a bit surprising that he was scratched for Game 1 due to injury, considering that Tippett played nearly 22 minutes in the series-clincher against the Penguins on Wednesday. In six games against Pittsburgh, Tippett had one goal and one assist, but he still seemed to be moving his legs and playing a physical brand of hockey. On the shift before Cam York’s overtime winner in Game 6, it was Tippett who drove the net, leading to a Porter Martone rebound try and subsequent offensive zone draw. Garnet Hathaway returned to the lineup on the fourth line after he was a healthy scratch on Wednesday. Alex Bump was, uh, bumped up to the Zegras line with Martone, taking Tippett’s place. None of it worked, as the Flyers were out-skated virtually the entire game. Not having their fastest player in the lineup didn’t help. With 9:07 remaining in the second period, it’d be wrong to say this game hung in the balance — the Hurricanes held a 2-0 lead and a comical edge in every relevant puck-possession statistic. It’s reasonable to think, though, that the remaining 1 1/2 periods would’ve played out a bit differently had Hurricanes defenseman K’Andre Miller not made a remarkable desperation play to erase Philadelphia’s best chance of the game. As a Carolina power play expired, Hathaway sprang out of the box for what looked to be a breakaway attempt on Andersen. Enter Miller, who showed a wild burst of closing speed in pursuit of Hathaway, then sprawled out for a poke check that both disrupted Hathaway’s attempt and didn’t draw a penalty. It was the exact sort of play that made Carolina acquire him from the New York Rangers and immediately sign him for $60 million. “For him to come this distance, there aren’t a lot of defensemen in the league who can close on a player like that,” ESPN analyst P.K. Subban said at intermission. “That’s what makes K’Andre Miller special.” In the closing minute of the second period, disaster appeared to strike Andrei Svechnikov. The Hurricanes forward, after a tie-up with Martone along the far boards in the offensive zone, lay sprawled out on the Lenovo Center ice, grabbing his right knee. Svechnikov tore his right ACL in 2023 and missed that season’s Stanley Cup playoffs, and fans in attendance went silent enough to show that they hadn’t forgotten. Svechnikov hadn’t twisted his knee or fallen awkwardly, though; he’d been slashed by Flyers forward Tyson Foerster while he was engaged with Martone. It was a solid swing, but not worth the five-minute major that Foerster was initially assessed before it was downgraded to a two-minute minor. Svechnikov returned for Carolina’s ensuing power play. Earlier in the game, on Stankoven’s second goal, Svechnikov registered his first point of the postseason. Brind’Amour was unconcerned about that lack of production, he said, because Svechnikov and linemates Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis kept Ottawa Senators stars Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stützle in check during the first round. “I don’t care, really, about the points,” Svechnikov said before the game. “If I get zero points and we win the Stanley Cup, I would be the happiest person in the world, you know?” Perhaps the least surprising development of the night for the Flyers was that the power play again did nothing, finishing 0-for-4. Even worse, they had three separate advantages while trailing 2-0, giving them at least an opportunity to cut into Carolina’s lead and change the momentum. But they didn’t manage a single shot on goal on any of them, while Carolina had three short-handed shots. Their fourth power play came with 4:48 left in regulation, but they still failed, even with goalie Dan Vladar pulled for an extra attacker, making it a six-on-four. Philadelphia’s power play is now just 2-for-21 in the playoffs, with both of its goals coming in a Game 3 win over the Penguins. It all adds up to an offense that has gone incredibly cold. The Flyers now have just five goals over their last four games. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms