Flyers Get Outplayed By Hurricanes, Blanked in Round 2 Opener
The Philadelphia Flyers (0-1, 4-3) looked like a team that needed more rest on Saturday, falling 3-0 to the Carolina Hurricanes (1-0, 5-0) at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh in Game 1 of their Round 2 best-of-7 series.
Carolina takes the early 1-0 series lead and has yet to lose a game this postseason.
Logan Stankoven and Jackson Blake scored for the Hurricanes.
The Hurricanes got off to a quick start and never looked back. Philadelphia was never able to generate much, being smothered by the aggressive-checking Hurricanes. There is a reason that Carolina was the best team in the East this season, and it showed. The Flyers started to look better as the game went on, but frustrations boiled over in the third period, and the Flyers never had a chance to come back.
Here is how we got to the final score.
Read More: Flyers-Hurricanes Game 1: Lines, Notes, & How to Watch
Hurricanes start early, Flyers have no answer
From the start of the period, the Flyers looked like a team that was not a match for the Hurricanes, who had a week off from games. The Hurricanes were dominant from the start and did not look back.
91 seconds into the game, Logan Stankoven (5) made it five straight playoff games with a goal, beating Dan Vladar early in the game. Mike Rielly (1) and Jackson Blake (4) assisted on the goal.
Six minutes later, Blake (2) had his turn on the score sheet, putting the Hurricanes up 2-0 just 7:30 into the game. If you watched Game 81 between these two teams, you could see Blake just feasting on the Flyers’ defense. It was no surprise.
Just over a minute-and-a-half later, the Hurricanes got their first power-play chance of the game following a Nick Seeler cross-check. The Flyers killed the penalty.
As expected, the Hurricanes swallowed up the Flyers on the forecheck and backcheck, and limited the Flyers’ attack. Even in the back half of the period, they had only had one shot on goal. The Flyers had two power plays in the second half of the period, but could not take advantage.
They finished the first period with just 4 shots on goal compared to the Hurricanes’ 12. They simply looked dead.
Things settled down defensively in the second period after the Blake goal in the first, but that extended deep into the second period, too. The Flyers looked much better on the defensive side of the game, but offensively, they could not get anything going.
Even after 40 minutes, the Flyers only had 9 shots on goal, with 5 in the second period. The Hurricanes added to their lead with another score from Logan Stankoven (6). This time, Seth Jarvis (3) and Andrei Svechnikov (1) assisted on the score.
The Flyers had a good chance after Garnet Hathaway was on a breakaway out of the penalty box, but he just did not have the gas to get to the net alone. Philly had just one power play and could not do anything, but their penalty kill looked good in the second period as well.
Read More: ‘We’re Here to Win’: How the Flyers Can Win or Lose the Series vs. the Hurricanes
Frustrations boil over as the Hurricanes close it out
Still shorthanded after a Tyson Foerster slash late in the second period, the Flyers had one of their best chances all game when Sean Couturier led a rush and drove to the net. He created some chaos in front, but he and Luke Glendening could not connect.
The Flyers showed life in the third period, but were still pretty smothered by the Hurricanes, and still not showing enough.
It looked like frustrations began to boil over as the game progressed. Jackson Black got Trevor Zegras with one of the more egregious slashes I’ve seen in a while. Zegras did himself no favors by giving him an elbow in retaliation and a cross-check while he was already down.
That led to minor penalties and misconduct on both players. Zegras got one for the elbow and another for the cross-check, which gave Carolina another power play. Taylor Hall and Travis Konecny each got roughing penalties.
The Flyers killed the penalty once again. Right after, Shayne Gostisbehere gave Luke Glendening a good slash to the back of the leg. Nick Seeler did not like that and came in to defend his teammate. Both Seeler and Gostisbehere got misconduct penalties. The officiating was not messing around.
Philly got a power play with just under 5 minutes to play after Svechnikov was called for a cross-check. Rick Tocchet pulled Dan Vladar for the 6-on-4 advantage while trailing 3-0.
They had no success on the power play, but kept the net empty following the attempt at 6-on-4. The Flyers nearly scored on a few chances with the empty net, but could never get on the board.
Freddie Anderson ended the game with a 19-save shutout, his second of the postseason, winning the game 3-0 for the Hurricanes.
What’s next
The Flyers and Hurricanes square off in Game 2 of the series on Monday at 7:00 p.m. EST at the Lenovo Center.
Read More: I s Flyers Forward Owen Tippett Questionable for Game 1; Update: He’s Out
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