The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 3-0 in Game 1 of the playoffs. Logan Stankoven continues his impressive scoring streak as the NHL's leading goal scorer.
Key points
Carolina Hurricanes won Game 1 against Philadelphia Flyers
The NHL's leading goal scorer has been on a crazy run with the Hurricanes to start the postseason.
Logan Stankoven, who picked up two goals in Carolina's Game 1 win, has scored in every single game of the playoffs so far, setting a franchise record for both the longest goal streak (5 games) and the most game-opening goals in a playoff year (4).
Not only that, but he also became the youngest player in NHL history to begin a postseason on a five-game goal streak.
"He's the hottest guy in hockey right now," said linemate Jackson Blake.
"His game hasn't changed, now it's just that pucks are going in," said Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour. "He's always created opportunities. He puts in the work, so the confidence has always been there because of that. We always seem to judge people on production and I get it, but he's been playing like this all year."
2. Jackson Blake Elevating His Game
Last year's playoffs was a big eye opening experience I think for the sophomore winger, who struggled quite a bit as the postseason went on.
However, this year, Blake is thriving, already matching last season's point total in a third of the games.
Last night, he had a goal and an assist and what a beauty the goal was.
"I just had a little speed and I saw that the guy on my left was a forward so I just tried to beat him and then got a pretty lucky bounce I'd say back to my backhand," Blake said. "God willing on that one, for sure."
The 22 year old forward has really matured his game on both ends of the ice and he continues to be a difference maker on one of the NHL's best lines.
Q&A
What was the final score of the Hurricanes vs Flyers Game 1?
The final score was 3-0 in favor of the Carolina Hurricanes.
Who is the leading goal scorer in the NHL playoffs?
Logan Stankoven is the leading goal scorer in the NHL playoffs.
When did the Hurricanes play the Flyers in Game 1?
The Hurricanes played the Flyers in Game 1 on Saturday.
What are the key takeaways from the Hurricanes' Game 1 victory?
The article lists 10 takeaways, highlighting Logan Stankoven's scoring run and the team's overall performance.
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"You want guys pushing each other," Brind'Amour said on Stankoven and Blake. "I don't think there's a competition there, but they're trying to push each other to be good players. It's kind of obvious that they're playing really, really well and that's what we've needed."
Alexander Nikishin wasn't ready to return from his concussion in Game 1, so in his place, Mike Reilly drew in.
The veteran has been in and out of the Hurricanes' lineup all season as the seventh defenseman and hadn't played in the postseason since 2024.
And to top it all off, he only found out he was playing that morning.
Despite that, he jumped into the lineup and didn't look out of place at all and picked up two assists and a +3 rating in just 11 minutes of action.
"Reils has done this all year," Brind'Amour said. "In, out. He missed 30 games there for a stretch then came right in and played well. There's a value to that veteran kind of guy who's, first of all, a pro and he showed that tonight."
4. Suffocation
All playoffs long we've heard how the Hurricanes just suffocate their opponents and the Flyers got to learn that first hand on Saturday.
The Canes just don't give opponents any time or space and their aggressive, in-your-face style leaves most feeling frustrated and lost.
After jumping out to an early lead, the Hurricanes basically shut everything down as they no longer needed to push for offense.
Despite playing conservatively, they gave up only two shots on goal at 5v5, zero of which were considered a high-danger chance.
The Flyers' only real offensive push came on the 6v4 situation to end the game and still they couldn't score.
In total, the Hurricanes surrendered just seven scoring chances and two high-danger chances over the course of the game at 5v5.
5. Top Power Play Still Searching For Finish
The Canes had four power play opportunities last night, but they still haven't been able to find a way to convert.
The top unit has been scoreless so far this postseason and it's a problem that needs to be figured out sooner rather than later.
In Game 1, they had 10 chances and five shots on goal, but they just weren't able to bury anything.
A lot of those guys are looking for their first goals of the postseason still and you have to think that once the floodgates finally burst, the goals will start coming in bunches.
And again, they're at least getting the chances, but at the end of the day, they need to convert.
6. Penalty Kill Dominance
In the first round, the Hurricanes penalty kill was nearly unbeatable, going 20 for 21 across four games.
It's safe to say that that shorthanded dominance has carried over as the Canes' PK absolutely stifled the Philadelphia power play.
The Flyers had four power play opportunities and were actually outshot 3-2 in total over that span and actually only managed to even get those shots on net when they pulled their goalie to make it a 6v4.
Carolina is one of the most aggressive penalty killing teams and they don't give opponents any time to make a play.
They're going to force you to beat them and so far, no one has really been able to.
7. Not Shying Away
It seems like most teams think they can beat Carolina by starting to play more physical, but this iteration of the Canes is more than happy to get in the mud though.
The Hurricanes aren't afraid to be physical back to their opponents and they have more than a few guys who can really lay down the hurt too should it come to that.
While it's not necessarily their game, they're not going to let anybody take advantage of them and that's a true hallmark of a good team.
"We're a tight-knit group," Andersen said. "We want to be there for each other when things get crazy and we want to play physical too and put it on them that way. I think we're doing a really good job at that."
"We're trying to invest with physicality," said Jordan Staal. "I thought the guys were good with being physical, especially on the D corps. A lot of guys on there play a lot and we want to keep investing with that and just give them no room and play our style."
8. Time Spent Trailing - 0:00
So far this postseason, the Canes have not trailed at any point. The team is a perfect 5-0 so far and have never once been behind in a game.
It's a ridiculous feat and one that has only been accomplished five times in NHL history, the most recent being 1986.
The Hurricanes have also only allowed a total of just five goals through the first five games of the postseason, which only seven others teams in the previous 50 years have done.
And not only that, but the Hurricanes also became the fifth team in Stanley Cup Playoffs history to open the scoring in each of their first five games of a postseason and win.
While Game 1 was yet another shutout for Andersen, it was probably one of the easiest ones he's ever had as the Flyers generated virtually nothing.
At 5v5, Philadelphia was credited with just 0.8 expected goals and they just never really got much of anything going offensively.
Regardless, he played his role perfectly and made all the saves he was asked to make.
It's been a tremendous postseason run for the veteran so far and hopefully he and the Canes can keep it going.
10. Unsatisfied
Despite what was a dominant win for Carolina, the main feeling I got coming away from the team was that they just didn't seem too happy.
Guys were talking about how there was still a lot to clean up and overall they surprisingly seemed a bit ticked off for a team that just had a big win.
But that's the reality for a group that has such high expectations for themselves.
This team has been here time and time again, so a Round 2 win just doesn't mean much to them.
They're always looking to be better than they were the game before and if you're a fan of the team, you probably love the fact that they're nowhere near satisfied.
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