Hurricanes beat the Flyers 4-1 in
Game 3, take a 3-0 series lead
[May 08, 2026]
By DAN GELSTON
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jordan Staal and Andrei Svechnikov scored on the
power play and Jalen Chatfield added a short-handed goal, keying a
special teams effort that helped the Carolina Hurricanes win their
seventh straight playoff game, 4-1 over the Philadelphia Flyers in
Game 3 on Thursday night.
The Hurricanes — who outshot the Flyers 30-19 —can complete their
second straight postseason series sweep in Game 4 on Saturday in
Philadelphia.
“Not the prettiest of games for anyone," Hurricanes coach Rod
Brind’Amour said. “It’s kind of been our calling card all year,
whatever way the game kind of goes, I think we've been able to adapt
to it and figure it out. It says a lot about our group.”
The Hurricanes — coming off a Game 1 shutout and a Game 2 overtime
thriller — again rode the hot hand of Frederik Andersen in net to
move to the brink of a sweep.
“You need goaltending like that,” Chatfield said. “He's been nothing
short of excellent. We know he's going to keep going like that.”
The Flyers, the last team in the East to clinch a playoff spot who
then beat Pittsburgh in the first round, had a few sensational early
looks at the net but again failed to finish and again failed on the
power play. They had the worst power-play efficiency (15.7%) in the
NHL this season and did not score with the man advantage in Game 3.
“We're trying,” Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said. “We're trying to get
these guys to understand certain things. That's on us. It's on me to
try to figure it out, it really is.”
To make it worse, Chatfield scored to make it 2-1 in the second just
11 seconds into the Flyers’ power play with Taylor Hall in the box
for boarding.
“My job isn't to be the flashiest guy on the blue line,” Chatfield
said. “It's put pucks on the net. Keep it simple. When I get the
lane, just rip it on the net.”
The Flyers hit Andersen with 15 shots during 19 minutes of overtime
in Game 2 and whiffed on their chance at the win — and perhaps their
best shot at making this a competitive series — when Travis Konecny
missed a makeable look on a breakaway.
Konecny fired another clean look minutes into Game 3, only for
Andersen to knock it away with his pads. Porter Martone, the Flyers’
teen sensation, rang the right side of the post moments later and
two great chances at goals meant nothing on the scoreboard.
[to top of second column] |
Carolina Hurricanes' K'andre Miller, left, collides with
Philadelphia Flyers' Matvei Michkov during the second period of Game
3 in the second round of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs,
Thursday, May 7, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
The Flyers still had a chance on the power play but
were stymied and fell at that point to 1 for 12 in the series and 3
for 29 in nine playoff games.
“Lot of sacrifice,” Brind’Amour said at silencing the Flyers' power
play.
Brind’Amour was even handed a bench minor for unsportsmanlike
conduct. The Hurricanes were otherwise too playoff tested, too
veteran savvy to not capitalize on Philadelphia’s slow start.
Staal punched in a rebound in the first period for the 1-0 lead.
Trevor Zegras, a 26-goal scorer held without a point the previous
four games, tied the game for the Flyers from one knee in the second
period.
That was it for the Flyers in their first home second-round playoff
game since 2012. They went 0 for 5 on the power play while the
Hurricanes were 2 of 7.
Svechnikov and Nikolaj Ehlers scored in the third period, the latter
of which sent Flyers fans headed toward the exits.
NHL playoff history is still against the Flyers. Only four teams
that trailed 3-0 in a seven-game series have come all the way back
to win — the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, 1980 New York Islanders, 2010
Flyers and 2014 Los Angeles Kings.
The Hurricanes are the 13th team to start a postseason 7-0 and eight
of the previous 12 won the Stanley Cup.
“It starts in the room with your leadership,” Brind’Amour said.
Through the first three games of the series, 58 penalties have been
handed out resulting in a total of 156 penalty minutes.
“Five-on-five, we were good,” Tocchet said. “I thought we were the
better team. That's two games in a row. Penalty fest. We're not
equipped for that.”
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