Carolina Hurricanes make history with Game 4 overtime win over Flyers

Eight up and eight down.

The Carolina Hurricanes remained undefeated in the Stanley Cup playoffs, taking a 3-2 overtime victory Saturday over the Philadelphia Flyers to finish off a four-game sweep of the second-round series.

Jackson Blake’s second goal of the game, at 5:28 of overtime, propelled the Hurricanes into the Eastern Conference final, where Carolina will face the winner of the Buffalo-Montreal series.

Blake took a pass from Taylor Hall at the top of the slot and got off a shot that bounced off and past goalie Dan Vladar and into the net.

After sweeping the Ottawa Senators in the opening round, the Canes again got the job done in short order against the Flyers to make it eight straight wins in the playoffs. The Hurricanes are the first team since Edmonton in 1985 to start the Stanley Cup playoffs with eight straight wins, and are the first team to sweep two best-of-seven series to open the postseason. (Edmonton swept a best-of-5 series to open its run.)

Goalie Frederik Andersen, making his eighth consecutive start, won for the eighth time. Blake and Logan Stankoven scored in regulation as the Canes’ second line, relatively quiet in Game 3, again provided offense and found the scoresheet in Game 4.

Hall, the left winger on the Stankoven line, had a pair of assists and has nine playoff points in the eight games.

The Flyers, facing elimination, got a big game in net from Vladar. They also got a tying goal from rookie Alex Bump in the third period after Stankoven had pushed the Canes ahead with his seventh goal of the playoffs.

Hall sped past defenseman Oliver Bonk down the left wing as Stankoven got ahead of Bump and easily beat Vladar. At 5:52 of the third, the Canes had the lead.

Not for long. The Flyers’ Travis Konecny forced K’Andre Miller behind the Canes’ net, then got the puck to Bump in the low slot for the tying goal.

Back and forth early

The Canes trailed 1-0 after the first — Tyson Foerster with the Flyers’ goal — but made a hard push and controlled the second despite having a go-ahead goal overturned.

The Canes’ penalty killers first denied the Flyers on a 5-on-3 power play, then tied it up on Blake’s goal.

Blake got off an outside shot that glanced off defenseman Jamie Drysdale and past Vladar with 7:25 left in the period.

Canes center Mark Jankowski then scored 28 seconds later on a shot from the low slot. But forward William Carrier was crowding the crease and the Flyers were successful in challenging for goaltender inference on Carrier.

Both teams had chances to grab the lead in the final minutes of the second. Jankowski missed an open net on a rebound chance, and Andersen made a scrambling stop of a Garnet Hathaway shot late in the period.

The Canes outshot the Flyers 15-4 in the second, rolling all four lines and keeping pressure on Vladar.

Foerster’s goal in the first for the early lead came after a sharp pass off the wall from Trevor Zegras. Foerster slipped between Blake and Stankoven for an open shot in the slot for his first of the playoffs.

Andersen made a good stop in the opening minute against rookie forward Porter Martone, but Foerster had too much space and didn’t miss.

The Flyers nearly added to their lead in the opening period. A quick stick play by Canes defenseman Jalen Chatfield broke up a pass from Zegras to Konecny on a power play, and Konecny later was denied on an odd-man rush in the final seconds of the period.

The Canes, who did not practice Friday or hold a morning skate Saturday, came off a half-step slow in the first 10 minutes of the game as the Flyers played with a degree of desperation. Winger Seth Jarvis did pick off a Flyers pass four minutes into the game and went one-on-one with Vladar but could not beat the goalie to the glove side.

Neither goalie had a lot of work in the first — the Canes had eight shots and the Flyers five.

Of note: Walker a new father

Canes defenseman Sean Walker had to hustle Saturday. Walker was in Raleigh with his wife, Taylor, for the birth of their first child. Walker then flew to Philadelphia for Game 4.

This story was originally published May 9, 2026 at 9:37 PM.

Chip Alexander

The News & Observer

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In more than 40 years at The N&O, Chip Alexander has covered the N.C. State, UNC, Duke and East Carolina beats, and now is in his 15th season on the Carolina Hurricanes beat. Alexander, who has won numerous writing awards at the state and national level, covered the Hurricanes’ move to North Carolina in 1997 and was a part of The N&O’s coverage of the Canes’ 2006 Stanley Cup run.