The Carolina Hurricanes and the Philadelphia Flyers will meet in the second round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, with the start date still up in the air, as of Thursday morning. The Canes have been out of action since completing their sweep last Saturday, while the Flyers just finished a six-game war with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night.
Admittedly, there's a selfish part of me that wanted to see that series go the distance. That same part of me wanted to see the Penguins complete the fifth-ever reverse sweep in Stanley Cup Playoffs history. It's not because of anything the Flyers have or haven't done. Honestly, it's about the story that could've come out of it over a decade-and-a-half after it started.
In 2009, the Hurricanes endured two grueling seven-game clashes with the New Jersey Devils and the Boston Bruins, both ending after miraculous goal that we've spoken about numerous times. This set up a date with the defending Eastern Conference champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins, in the Eastern Conference Finals.
What followed was one of the most lopsided series losses in franchise history. Game 1 was tight, and Game 2 featured an Evgeni Malkin hat trick in a 7-4 Pittsburgh win, but neither game in Raleigh was all that close. The Penguins won 6-2 and 4-1 at the RBC Center to complete the sweep and set up a rematch with the Detroit Red Wings for the Stanley Cup, which Pittsburgh won in seven games.
Malkin finished the series with six goals and nine points, while Sidney Crosby had seven points. The Penguins outscored the Hurricanes, 20-9. It just felt like the Hurricanes ran out of steam against a far more experienced Pittsburgh team. It's the same thing that happened to the group in 2019 when they lost to the Bruins in the conference finals during their first postseason appearance in a decade.
This series was so long ago that Jordan Staal was still only 20 years old. He had just one assist during the sweep. Now, Staal is the captain of the Hurricanes, which would've set up a cool and wholesome moment during the handshake line with Crosby at the end of the series, regardless of whether the Canes won or lost against the Penguins.
I don't think this would've necessarily been a "passing of the torch" moment if they'd met and the Canes won. While you have to acknowledge the pedigree of Crosby, Malkin, and Kris Letang with everything they've accomplished, the Canes have been the better team for the last several years. If anything, a series between the two would've been a reversal of their 2009 collision.
I know that Carolina-Pittsburgh isn't a rivalry, and that I might be the only person on the planet looking at a potential "revenge" series over 15 years after their last encounter. All I'm saying is that it would've been cool to see the shoe on the other foot. The Canes, on paper, would be the better team, unlike they were in 2009. It's all a distant memory now but just think about what could've been.
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