2 Flyers most to blame for 2nd-round sweep against Hurricanes

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2 Flyers most to blame for 2nd-round sweep against Hurricanes

Steve Silverman, ClutchPoints

Mon, May 11, 2026 ·

5 min read

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2 Flyers most to blame for 2nd-round sweep against Hurricanes appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .

The Philadelphia Flyers knew they had an uphill battle in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs against the Metropolitan Division champion Carolina Hurricanes. However, after eliminating the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round, there was plenty of confidence among head coach Rick Tocchet’s charges. However, the Hurricanes had too much speed and Rod Brind’Amour’s team was opportunistic throughout. The result was a four-game sweep by the Hurricanes.

Carolina has won eight straight games in the Stanley Cup playoffs. They swept the Ottawa Senators in the first round of the playoffs. They are the first team to start the postseason with an 8-0 run since the 1985 Edmonton Oilers. (Wayne Gretzky’s Oilers actually won their first nine postseason games before they suffered a loss to the Chicago Blackhawks.)

While Philadelphia suffered a four-game sweep, they extended both the second game in Carolina to overtime as well as the final game at homie to the extra session.

In the end, the Hurricanes were the better and more experienced team, and their victory was inevitable. This team was quicker to the puck, knew what to do with it when they won the race and pressured the Flyers throughout. Philadelphia was unable to cope with Carolina’s precise attack or relentless defense.

The Flyers came very close to winning Game 2 as they had the better chances in overtime. That was not the case in the final game as the Hurricanes ended things quickly as Jackson Blake scored the winner at the 5:31 mark. It could have ended sooner than that.

“We squeezed as much juice (as we could) from this team,” Tocchet said , per Kevin Kurz of The Athletic . “I can’t ask for more. We hung in there. That’s a good hockey team over there. They roll four lines; they were flying. We’ve got some guys banged up — broken ribs, all that sort of stuff. They gave it all.”

The better team won the series, but there were problems on the Philadelphia end. Tocchet will have to contend with those issues in the offseason.

Michkov has to be better and show more commitment

Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

There are obvious issues between Tocchet and Matvei Michkov. The Russian import is supposed to be a star for the Flyers, but he was a healthy scratch in two of Philadelphia’s playoff games.

Michkov scored 20 goals and 31 assists during the regular season, and that represented a 12-point drop-off from his first season in the league. That’s not the way a young superstar is supposed to develop. The playoffs were a disaster for Michkov as he had just one assist in eight games and a minus-3 rating.

There are issues with Michkov’s conditioning, and those were at the root of his problems during the season and especially during the playoffs. Michkov is still a 21-year-old athlete who can turn things in the right direction. Much will depend on what he does in the offseason.

Tocchet wants to see him report to training camp in much better shape. He wants to know that Michkov is committed to being the best player he can be. Tocchet has to have questions about that at this point and it will be up to Michkov to show quite a bit more next season.

Tocchet has been a successful player in the NHL, and he knows that it takes effort to improve. He is not going to put up with anything but a full commitment from a player who has the ability to become a star.

The Flyers also could have gotten more from first-line center Christian Dvorak. While he has never been a top scorer, he tallied 18 goals and 33 assists during the regular season. That 51-point effort was the best of his career.

Philadelphia could have used a similar effort from him in the playoffs. However, he could not find the back of the net and he had just four assists. Dvorak had a minus-1 rating, and the Flyers would have liked to see more from him.

Young players must show improvement

There is little doubt that the Flyers have the young talent on their roster that will help this team become a regular playoff participant. If they are in the same position next year, they need their young players like Porter Martone, Denver Barkey and Alex Bump to make a substantial contribution.

Martone played in all 10 playoff games for the Flyers and he tied with Rasmus Ristolainen and Travis Konecny as the team’s second-leading scorer with five points. Barkey also played in 10 games as the team’s third-line center . He scored one goal and one assist. Bump played in six games and he found the back of the net twice.

All three of these players are talented — Martone may be the best of the trio — and they all got to see how Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin performed in the first round and how Taylor Hall, Jackson Blake, Logan Stankoven, Jordan Staal, Seth Jarvis and Sebastian Aho played in the second round.

Playing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs is a road map and a lesson plan for the young Flyers. At the very least, they see what it takes to win in the most crucial games of the year. Now they have to apply those lessons and improve significantly.

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