Flyers are Playoff Bound After Shootout Win vs. Hurricanes

Story by

William James

Tue, Apr 14, 2026 ·

5 min read

PHILADELPHIA –Both teams picked up a point on Monday as the Philadelphia Flyers (42-26-12) beat the Carolina Hurricanes (52-22-7) 3-2 in overtime at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

The Hurricanes clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference, and Philly is playoff bound.

Bradly Nadeau and Nicolaj Ehlers scored for the Hurricanes. Matvei Michkov and Trevor Zegras scored for the Flyers.

The first period was dominated by the Carolina Hurricanes. Philadelphia looked nervous, and Carolina was able to pick apart the Flyers’ defense and take the 2-0 lead. In the second period, Dan Vladar settled down, Philly’s offense came to life, and dug the Flyers out of the hole. That led to a massive third period with the Flyers’ playoff hopes on the line. Nobody could score in the third, sending the game to overtime, and eventually the shootout.

Here is how we got to the final score.

Flyers dig themselves an early hole

The Flyers got off to a decent start, but you could tell there were some early nerves. There were a couple of chances within the first 5 minutes of the game that they typically convert, but they seemed a little yippy.

Scoring first is always important, but you could tell that scoring first meant more on Monday.

The Flyers did not score first.

Nikolaj Ehlers (45) chased the Sean Walker dump-in (22) and found Bardley Nadeau (3) alone in the slot, who buried it past Vladar. It was the Hurricanes’ first shot of the game.

A few moments after the goal, Owen Tippett went end-to-end with a great burst of speed, but was stopped by Brandon Bussi . The Cates line had a productive next shift, including a Denver Barkey breakaway, but he lost control of the puck before getting a shot off. That same shift, Barkey set Cates up for a grade-A, but Cates was tied up by the Carolina defense.

The Hurricanes got the first power play of the game following a Christian Dvorak holding penalty, and it did not go their way. A lucky bounce off two Flyers defenders found the puck bounce directly to Nicolaj Ehlers (25), who cashed in for the power-play goal.

The Flyers found themselves in a 2-0 hole going into the first intermission during a win-and-in game.

Philly evens the score

Starting the second period, the Flyers had that same sort of lifeless look that they ended the first period with. The Hurricanes’ pressure seemed to be too much for the Flyers, and Carolina, even without four top forwards, was dominating.

With things starting to look dark, the Cates line injected life back into Xfinity Mobile Arena.

Denver Barkey (12) made a slick no-look pass to Matvei Michkov (19), who scored right off the bench, getting the Flyers on the board and making it a 2-1 game. Noah Cates (29) got the secondary assist.

The crowd was immediately back into a game, so much so that I could not hear the person next to me.

Philly had a chance to really build momentum on the power play after Sean Walker was called for roughing Zegras less than a minute after the score. Momentum was, in fact, built.

The power play looked as dangerous as it has been recently, and they cashed in. Porter Martone (5), who had not been having his best game, set up Trevor Zegras (26), who went five-hole on the Canes’ netminder, and tied the game at 2 with just under half the game remaining.

Philly had the chance to take the game over after the momentum shifted following the Flyers’ two goals in under three minutes. They were unable to add on another, but momentum was on their side.

The game went into the second intermission all square at 2.

Flyers win it/lose it in the shootout

It was not an overwhelmingly strong start for the Flyers as the third period began. But it was still much better than the first. After tying the game in the second period, there was a “next goal wins” feel to the game.

The Flyers thought they were given a real good chance just under 5 minutes into the period after Barkey drew what was thought to be an elbow that drew blood from Charles-Alexis Legault. It was reviewed, and no penalty. That got the crowd even more engaged.

Philly was pushing for the go-ahead score. Carolina seemed to be playing for overtime. That was all they needed to clinch the No. 1 seed in the East.

There was a shift around 12 minutes left in the game where the Hurricanes had the Flyers hemmed into the defensive zone. Big saves from Vladar and a hit from Luke Glendenning helped the Flyers get out of the jam.

A few minutes later, Owen Tippett was sprung on another rush. He was unable to put one away. But he drew a slash from Ehlers, which put Philly on the man-advantage with 8:22 to play in the game.

That power play was still productive in the final minute, but once again, they could not pull ahead.

Carolina got a late push for the lead, but could not get one past Vladar. So, the game went to overtime.

Both teams had some great looks in overtime, but neither team could convert. Dan Vladar made a number of big stops and forced the game to a shootout.

In the first round, Zegras could not beat Bussi, but Blake could not beat Vladar. Michkov was stopped in the second round, and so was Nadeau. Konecny could not get his shot to go, but Miller’s shot went wide.

Tyson Foerster buries his shot, and Dan Vladar sends the Flyers to the playoffs.

The Flyers won 3-2 in the shootout, and the 2025-26 Philadelphia Flyers are in the postseason.

What’s next

The Flyers are right back at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Tuesday for their “Orange Out” game against the Montreal Canadiens . Puck drop is at 7:00 pm EST.

The post Flyers are Playoff Bound After Shootout Win vs. Hurricanes appeared first on Philly Hockey Now .