The Carolina Hurricanes made their first attempt to finish the Philadelphia Flyers and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals on Saturday night. The Canes traveled to Philly for Thursday's contest and got contributions throughout the lineup in a 4-1 win, taking a 3-0 series lead. Four players finished with multiple points, including a goal and an assist each from Jordan Staal and Andrei Svechnikov.
The Hurricanes kept their lineup the same from Thursday's win, trotting the same 18 skaters onto the ice. The Flyers made a few changes, subbing out Matvei Michkov and Emil Andrae for Jett Luchanko and Oliver Bonk, respectively. In the net, Frederik Andersen and Dan Vladar battled for the fourth time, with the latter hoping it wouldn't be the last.
The first and only goal of the opening frame belonged to the Flyers. Patience from Trevor Zegras gave Tyson Foerster a chance between the dots, and he snapped it past Andersen to get the Flyers on the board first. Both teams had a chance on the power play in the period, but neither cashed in. Philadelphia finished the frame with its 1-0 lead intact.
The Canes responded well in the second. Along with killing another 5-on-3, the Stankoven line got back to its scoring ways. Jackson Blake fired a shot from the boards that eluded Vladar to get the Canes even. Mark Jankowski added another goal 28 seconds later, but Toronto determined that William Carrier prevented Vladar from playing his position, leaving us tied at one after two.
Both teams got one into the back of the net early in the third. Logan Stankoven finished a beautiful 3-on-2 chance with his linemates to score his seventh goal of the playoffs and give the Canes the lead. It lasted 1:39 before Alex Bump finished a pass from Travis Konecny to knot it again. Chances were abundant for each side, but regulation wouldn't be enough to settle it, sending us to overtime again.
Overtime didn't last very long, and it was dominated by the visitors. The line that had done all of the scoring tonight finished the job. The play started with Jaccob Slavin stepping up in the neutral zone to defend a pass. Taylor Hall swooped in and found Jackson Blake. His shot grazed Vladar's glove and popped over the line, finishing the sweep and sending the Canes to the Eastern Conference Finals.
After a game off, the Stankoven line brought the offense tonight
For the first time this postseason, the Stankoven line couldn't find offense in Game 3. The rest of their team helped out. They clearly didn't like that because they did it all by themselves tonight. Jackson Blake and Taylor Hall each finished with three points. Blake scored twice and added an assist, and Hall assisted on all three goals, including Logan Stankoven's league-leading tally in the third.
Through two rounds, there might not be a better line in hockey. They have 31 total points, including 14 of the team's 24 goals. One way to look at this is that this trio has been outstanding. On the other side, the Canes need the rest of the team to step up, too. I'd say it isn't a winning recipe, but they've proven that to be false over their last eight games. Still, the more people scoring, the better.
The Hurricanes join elite company with another sweep
Achieving one sweep is an incredibly tough feat. The Canes had only done it once in a best-of-seven series entering this year's postseason. Over the last month, they have done it twice. Neither series has been easy, and neither team has gone down quietly. The Flyers iced a very young lineup tonight, sending five rookies out there to keep their season alive, and they fought until the end.
The Hurricanes are the fifth team in league history to start a postseason with eight straight wins. The four teams before them all made it to the Stanley Cup Final, with three of them winning it all. The one thing that is distinctively different about this run is that the Canes are the first to do it by winning two best-of-seven series. The other four did it before 1987, when the league adopted its current format.
Additional Thoughts
It's an underrated part of the goal, but Jaccob Slavin's contribution to the series-clinching tally can't be overlooked. The Flyers were trying to turn the puck up the ice with a stretch pass. Slavin stepped into Porter Martone to snuff out the pass, allowing Hall to bring it into the offensive zone. It's the little things that can turn into big moments. Slavin was all over it on the winner.
It took eight games for Frederik Andersen to record a save percentage below .900 this postseason, yet you can't look at this performance and point out any issues. Andersen made a few clutch stops in key spots to make up for the lack of work he saw. His series followed a very similar script to the first one, allowing just five goals in four games, bringing him to ten goals against in total.
Up Next: As they did after the Ottawa sweep, the Hurricanes will play the waiting game. They've started and finished their four-game set. Meanwhile, the Atlantic Division series between Buffalo and Montreal has only played two games, with one win for each side. There's no telling how long this series will go, so the Canes are stuck waiting for their next challenger.
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