Carolina Hurricanes ready for Round 2 of NHL playoffs vs. Philly. What to know
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Carolina will host Philadelphia in Round 2 with home ice for Games 1, 2, 5 and 7.
- Logan Stankoven, Taylor Hall and Jackson Blake combined for seven goals and nine assists.
- Frederik Andersen stopped 105 of 110 shots while the penalty kill went 20-for-21.
After a four-game sweep of the Ottawa Senators, the Carolina Hurricanes will host the Philadelphia Flyers in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs — the first postseason meeting between the franchises — with the first two games coming at Lenovo Center in Raleigh.
Carolina, the East’s top seed, finished off the Senators with a 4-2 win Saturday at Canadian Tire Centre. Philadelphia advanced Wednesday night with a 1-0 overtime victory in Game 6 over the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Canes will have home ice advantage in the series, hosting Games 1 and 2 plus, if necessary, Games 5 and 7.
A regular-season rivalry that refused to end in regulation
If recent history is any guide, Hurricanes fans heading to Lenovo Center should plan for late nights. All four regular-season meetings between Carolina and Philadelphia went to overtime. The Hurricanes won once in OT — Seth Jarvis with the dagger — and twice in shootouts before dropping the fourth meeting in a shootout April 13. Jackson Blake and Andrei Svechnikov authored the shootout winners during a December 13-14 home-and-home. Nikolaj Ehlers and Taylor Hall each scored twice against Philly this season.
The longer trend favors the Canes. Over the past 10 NHL seasons, Carolina is 24-9-3 against Philadelphia and 16-2-1 in the past five. All-time, dating back to the Hartford Whalers days, it’s 63-74-30 across 167 games. But the Flyers are exactly the kind of opponent — heavy, snarly, willing to make every shift a wrestling match — that gave the Canes fits all year.
Top line clicking at the right time
The Logan Stankoven-Taylor Hall-Jackson Blake line was the story of Round 1. The trio combined for seven goals and nine assists against Ottawa — half of Carolina’s point production in the series.
Stankoven scored in all four games. He tallied the first goal in each of the first three, then buried a power-play go-ahead goal with 10:50 left in regulation Saturday — winning the offensive-zone faceoff and stuffing in K’Andre Miller’s carom off the end boards. He finished a 21-goal regular season with seven goals in his last eight games, then carried it straight into the postseason.
Coach Rod Brind’Amour moved Stankoven to center this season and eventually settled on Blake at right wing and Hall on the left.
“Once we get the puck Rod’s given us the ability to kind of freewheel and do our thing and use our creativity,” Stankoven said.
Asked for one word on his linemate, Blake offered: “Relentless.”
“He’s a bulldog out there,” Blake said. “He’s always working hard.”
Hall, the 34-year-old former league MVP, said the move to center has taken time.
“It’s super difficult,” Hall said. “I think with him kind of exploding in the last bit of the regular season and now in the playoffs, it might be as simple as he’s gotten more comfortable playing the center-ice position. At center, almost every shift you’re starting out with a battle and worry about that, whereas with us wingers, we just get to play a little bit more.”
Hall led the Canes with seven points in the series, posting two goals and five assists. Blake added a goal and three helpers, including the Game 3 winner in a 2-1 victory in Ottawa. He’s averaging 18:43 of ice time, up from his rookie average of just under 17.
“I’m more confident this year,” Blake said. “I feel more comfortable. I mean, last year I didn’t know what to expect. I do this year.”
“The ‘old guy’ has been awesome,” Blake said of Hall. “He’s making a lot of plays and scoring big goals for us.”
For Stankoven — acquired from Dallas in the Mikko Rantanen trade — this is the deepest he’s been in a postseason as a featured piece. “It’s what you dream of as a kid,” he said. “Other than winning the Stanley Cup it’s what you want, to help the team win and score goals and be a difference-maker on the ice.”
Andersen, penalty kill set the tone
Frederik Andersen stopped 105 of 110 shots across the four games. Brind’Amour called it his best stretch in net since arriving in Carolina. The penalty kill was its perfect partner, holding Ottawa to 1-for-21 on the power play, including three killed 5-on-3s in Game 4.
“He was amazing,” Hall said. “Ullmark was fantastic, too, but Freddie was just that much better, and it was awesome to see.”
“Our penalty kill and Freddie was the difference,” Hall added.
Injury watch: Nikishin and Ehlers
Two names of concern: Alexander Nikishin and Nikolaj Ehlers.
Nikishin took a massive hit from Ottawa’s Tyler Kleven in the second period of Game 4 — the play that touched off the worst of the rough stuff, with Svechnikov drawing a pair of roughing minors defending him. Nikishin was diagnosed with a concussion but flew home with the team. He was on the ice at Wednesday’s practice in a yellow no-contact jersey, a promising development.
“I think he’s feeling good,” Brind’Amour said. “It’s going in the right direction.”
Ehlers, sidelined with a lower-body injury that kept him out of Game 4, again missed practice Wednesday. “He’s getting better every day and I anticipate him coming out (to practice) shortly,” Brind’Amour said.
A physical series, with more coming
If anyone needed proof this group can match physicality, Round 1 delivered it. Jordan Staal handled Brady Tkachuk’s center-ice challenge after the opening draw of Game 1 and won. The Canes never trailed at any point in the series. The second period of Game 4 devolved into scrums, blood and a Ridly Greig sucker punch to Sean Walker’s gut that drew a May 4 hearing with the Department of Player Safety.
“Our team stepped up to the challenge,” Walker said. “It was hard, as physical a series as I’ve been a part of. Every shift was a battle, but that was expected.”
“Whatever way the game goes, our group can handle it,” Brind’Amour said. “There’s a fine line you have to try and balance, and I thought we did a great job there. … There was zero panic.”
Now Philadelphia gets its turn with two games at Lenovo to start.
