Hurricanes sweep Flyers for historic 8-0 playoff start
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- Carolina Hurricanes completed a second-round sweep of the Philadelphia Flyers with a 3-2 overtime win Saturday, making them the first team to go 8-0 in the first two rounds since the NHL's four-round, seven-game series format was established in 1987
- Jackson Blake scored the overtime winner on a shot that bounced over Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar's glove; Blake's line with Logan Stankoven and Taylor Hall factored in on all three Hurricanes goals
- Stankoven and defenseman Jaccob Slavin both pushed back on the historic-start narrative, saying Carolina has "another level to get to" and "we've got to do all eight wins again just to get to the end"
- The Hurricanes dominated Game 4 in shots (40-17) and shot attempts (84-39), while Vladar made 37 saves; Tyson Foerster opened the scoring for Philadelphia and Alex Bump tied it at 5:52 of the third
- Coach Rod Brind'Amour acknowledged the team now faces a lengthy layoff — the Sabres-Canadiens series is tied 1-1 with Game 7 not until May 18 — mirroring the week-long gap they had after sweeping Ottawa
- Carolina is making its second straight Eastern Conference finals appearance and third in four years; the Florida Panthers, who eliminated the Hurricanes in both prior trips, failed to qualify for this year's playoffs
Why it matters: Carolina's 8-0 start is the best in the modern playoff era, but the team could now sit idle for 10+ days before the Eastern Conference finals begin. Stankoven publicly flagged the risk: "I don't want to have too much time off." That tension between rest and rust is the defining question facing a Hurricanes roster that has cruised through two rounds without playing a Game 5 or beyond.
