"Like They Never Left": 2025-26 Postseason Round 2, Game 1: Carolina Hurricanes vs. Philadelphia Flyers

It took a week to get back onto the ice for a game, but the Carolina Hurricanes waited patiently for the opportunity. It proved fruitful for the group, allowing Nikolaj Ehlers to return to the lineup after suffering injury before Game 4 against Ottawa. Alexander Nikishin was not ready to return just yet. As the top team in the East, the expectations remain sky high for the Canes, and they'll have a pesky division foe to contend with in the second round. The Philadelphia Flyers emerged victorious following the Battle of Pennsylvania, beating in-state rival Pittsburgh in six games to advance. They'll be without a valuable part of their offense, Owen Tippett, to start the series, but there is still plenty to keep the Canes busy. In the net, two incredible hot goalies will go at it. Frederik Andersen allowed just five goals during Carolina's sweep, while Dan Vladar closed the Flyers' series with a 42-save shutout.

Scoring Summary

1st Period

CAR (1:31)- Logan Stankoven (5) (Mike Reilly (1) & Jackson Blake (4))

CAR (7:30)- Jackson Blake (2) (Taylor Hall (6) & Mike Reilly (2))

2nd Period

CAR (16:16)- Logan Stankoven (6) (Seth Jarvis (3) & Andrei Svechnikov (1))

3rd Period

None

My Thoughts

If you've seen one Hurricanes game during the playoffs thus far, you've seen all of them. Even after a week of rest and practice, the script picked up right where it left off. Logan Stankoven scored 91 seconds into the game, and it was like we never missed a beat. The only real difference is that he decided to add another goal in the second period, giving him his first multi-goal effort of the postseason in the process. The only other goal of the night came from his line as well. Jackson Blake carved through the Flyers' defense, including Olympic silver medalist Travis Sanheim, whiffed on his initial chance, but stuck with the play to slide the puck around Dan Vladar's pad. Add to it the continued ineptitude of the Canes' power play, the continued dominance of their power play, and a goalie who appears to be a world beater at the moment, and that's all you need to know about Game 1 against the Flyers. 

I could easily leave my thoughts there, but I'll add to them a little, because this game did leave us with some talking points. First, we saw the chipiness ratchet up during the third period, but the bubbles started coming to the surface before then. That's because of a truly poor job of officiating from the stripes tonight. Both referees were abysmal. Jordan Martinook was called for a high-sticking penalty that came about after Nick Seeler grabbed his stick and hit himself with it. Garnet Hathaway was given one of the softest slashing penalties I've ever seen, and Andrei Svechnikov the softest cross-check ever. However, the sequence with Blake and Trevor Zegras midway through the third was the crescendo. Both players probably could've gotten three separate penalties. Instead, Zegras got 4+10, while Blake got 2+10, ending their nights. The leash was very short because Seeler and Shayne Gostisbehere each saw their nights end two minutes later. This is going to be a constant throughout the series, so this was a nice appetizer for what's to come.

I'll end the night by saying that this was Hurricanes hockey to a tee. The league desperately needed a primetime game to put on ABC tonight. For the casual fans who only watch during the playoffs, or for someone outside of either market who is trying to get into the game, this is not a game that properly showcases how great the NHL is. I find the Canes' brand of hockey very fun to watch, and I'm sure other Canes fans will agree. However, the general consensus seems to be that the Canes are boring, and that has been the case for many years. Tonight, I can understand why people might think that. This was 60 minutes of suffocating defense and preventing the Flyers from finding their groove. Unfortunately for the NHL, this was the only matchup set between teams with a decent amount of rest. I couldn't care less about the plight of the league and its scheduling issues. We didn't even get the schedule for this round until right before puck drop. All I care about is the Hurricanes winning games. On that front, I'm a happy Caniac.

First Star of the Game: Logan Stankoven

The new record holder for the youngest player in NHL history to open the postseason on a five-game goal streak, Logan Stankoven picked up where he left off in Game 4 against the Senators. He opened the scoring with a perfect tip in the first period before benefitting from a bounce and a beautiful saucer pass on his second goal. He led the team with five shots, tying Sean Couturier for the most in the game. He's now tied for the league lead in goals, with six goals in five games.

Around the League

Tampa Bay-Montreal: While the Canes are already playing in the second round, there is still one series in the first round needing a conclusion after Tampa forced a Game 7 with an OT win on Friday. (Tied 3-3)

Next Up: The Canes and the Flyers will pick things back up on Monday night in Raleigh, with the Canes trying to add to their series advantage on home ice. They'll get two days between games before the Flyers host Game 3 on Thursday night. Game 4 will be on Saturday. We'll discuss the remainder as those games are needed.