"Everyone Gets What They Want": 2025-26 Regular Season, Game 81: Carolina Hurricanes at Philadelphia Flyers

The resting of players continued for the Carolina Hurricanes as they tried to lock up the top spot in the Eastern Conference. All they needed was one point, or for the Blackhawks to beat the Sabres in some fashion. Meanwhile, this game meant a ton for the Philadelphia Flyers, needing a win to finish third in the division and secure the final playoff spot in the conference. This meant another game with half of the Canes' roster against a fully available opponent. It worked during the first two stops on their road trip in Chicago and Utah. They hoped it would work again in Philly.

Scoring Summary
1st Period
CAR (8:41)- Bradly Nadeau (3) (Nikolaj Ehlers (45) & Sean Walker (22))
CAR (15:30-PP)- Nikolaj Ehlers (25) (Logan Stankoven (22) & Jackson Blake (31))
2nd Period
PHI (7:57)- Matvei Michkov (19) (Denver Barkey (12) & Noah Cates (29))
PHI (10:30-PP)- Trevor Zegras (26) (Porter Martone (5) & Tyson Foerster (4))
3rd Period
None
Overtime
None
Shootout
PHI- Tyson Foerster

My Thoughts
The Carolina Hurricanes are the top team in the Eastern Conference for the regular season. That's quite an accomplishment. It's not the honor that will silence any doubters, but in a wild NHL season, it's not a bad honor to hold. Would I have liked for their offense to get another goal after the first period? Of course I would. Would it have been nice for the Canes to win the game once they got to overtime and secured the top spot? Without a doubt. Will I complain about losing in the shootout tonight? No, I will not. The Canes did what they needed to do while resting their players. It's a good thing they did it themselves because Buffalo beat Chicago, 5-1, to win the Atlantic Division. It doesn't matter now. The Eastern Conference runs through Raleigh, North Carolina.

The offensive output ran directly through Nikolaj Ehlers. I'm a little surprised that Ehlers hasn't been scratched just yet, and I expect that to change on Tuesday, but I'm sure glad that he was on the ice tonight. He made an incredible pass from behind the net to find Bradly Nadeau for the opening goal. Nadeau did a great job himself by getting his stick free against Travis Sanheim to score the goal. Then, Ehlers got a bounce. Logan Stankoven was trying to find Jackson Blake in front of the net on the power play. Instead, it hopped to Ehlers, who scored from a tough angle to double the lead. With his goal, Ehlers recorded his 70th point, becoming the second Hurricane to reach this number after signing as a free agent, joining Cory Stillman in 2005-06.

From there, the Flyers did all the scoring. They got both in the second period before deciding the game in the shootout, with all four meetings between the Canes and the Flyers this season reaching extra time. It was the first win for the Flyers against Carolina in the series, as the Canes earned seven of eight possible points against their division foe. Brandon Bussi did a good job of standing his ground and playing well, especially in the third period. In what will likely be his final start of the regular season, Bussi will close with 30 wins after stopping 18 of the 20 shots he faced over 65 minutes and three of four in the shootout. Not bad for a rookie.

This result works out well for both the Hurricanes and the Flyers, who clinched the third spot in the Metro and the last playoff spot in the East. 

First Star of the Game: Nikolaj Ehlers
This was actually a tough call because K'Andre Miller and Jackson Blake also had great nights. However, Nikolaj Ehlers was a part of both goals for the Canes to reach another round number. Ehlers had a team-high six shots in the game. If this was his last game of the regular season, Ehlers went out with a bang.

Around the League
Boston: The job is very simple for the Bruins. If they win their game on Tuesday night against the Devils, the Bruins will be the top Wild Card team, facing the Sabres in the first round.
Ottawa: If the Bruins falter and earn anything less than two points, the Senators will have the chance to claim the top Wild Card spot with a win over Toronto on Wednesday. Otherwise, they'll face the Canes.

Next Up: The Hurricanes conclude the regular season tomorrow night against the New York Islanders. We'll likely see the NHL debut of Felix Unger Sorum, and Pyotr Kochetkov may jump back into the fold in some capacity. From there, all eyes will turn to the postseason, where the Hurricanes await the results of the Wild Card race between the Bruins and the Senators, which could be decided as early as Tuesday night.

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