Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 20: Hurricanes push Flyers to the brink
The Stanley Cup Playoffs are back, which means that for the next two months, we’ll get non-stop action as we witness 16 teams get whittled down to the one that will be crowned as the 2026 Stanley Cup champions. Here at Daily Faceoff, we’ll be keeping you in the loop on everything that happens in the playoffs, every day until the Stanley Cup is hoisted in June.
Thursday night saw the just one series in action, as the top seed in the Metropolitan Division moved one step closer to making the Eastern Conference Final.
Chatfield’s shorthanded goal pushes Hurricanes past Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers threw a heck of a punch at the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 2 on Monday night. An early 2-0 lead ultimately gave way to a 3-2 overtime loss, and after Game 3, it looks like that may have been the Flyers’ best punch.
The Hurricanes cruised to a 4-1 victory in a game that was defined by a glaring lack of 5-on-5 play, as Carolina’s special teams proved too much against a Flyers power play that continued to prove incapable of capitalizing on an abundance of chances.
Jordan Staal got the scoring started with a power play goal in the first period, and that was the last of the scoring (largely thanks to a goal line stop from Jaccob Slavin) until Trevor Zegras broke through for his first of the series with a well-placed shot high to beat Frederik Andersen.
Trevor Zegras ties the game! 🎥: Sportsnet
That led to a pivotal moment in the game, as both teams continued their respective parades to the penalty box. Just as Philadelphia was getting going on an other power play, Jamie Drysdale was forced into a turnover at the blue line, leading to a Carolina 2-on-1 the other way that swung the game when Staal set up Jalen Chatfield for a perfect one-timer past Dan Vladar to make it 2-1 heading into the third.
Jalen Chatfield scores shorthanded to put Carolina up 1! 🎥: Sportsnet
The Hurricanes are extremely difficult to come back against in the third period, and they proved it again Thursday.
Andrei Svechnikov wired home a one-timer on a 4-on-3 power play to make it 3-1, and Nikolaj Ehlers put the game well out of reach by capitalizing on a Rasmus Ristolainen mistake and beating Vladar on a clean breakaway.
Andrei Svechnikov doubles the Hurricanes lead! 🎥: Sportsnet
The Flyers made an honest attempt at tone-setting for Game 4 with some post-whistle antics in the final moments, but if they’re going to keep their season alive with a win in Game 4 on Saturday, Philadelphia will need to find an answer on special teams.