Playing their penultimate game of the 2025-26 regular season, Rick Tocchet's Philadelphia Flyers (41-27-12) are home on Monday to host Rod Brind'Amour's Carolina Hurricanes (52-22-6). If the Flyers win this game, the team will clinch third place in the Metropolitan Division and an automatic playoff spot against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal round.
Carolina is playing the front end of a back-to-back set. They finish their regular season schedule in Elmont on Tuesday against the New York Islanders. Carolina has already clinched first place in the Metro. Their magic number to clinch the Eastern Conference regular season championship -- guaranteeing the home ice advantage for the first three rounds of the playoffs -- is down to one.
Game time at Xfinity Mobile Arena is 7:00 p.m. EDT. The game will be broadcast on NBCSP.
The Flyers (94 points, 26 regulation wins) enter Monday with one mission: win and they're in. They don't want any of backup scenarios to come into play.
Philadelphia enters Monday's game coming off a 7-1 road blowout victory against the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday evening. The Flyers received stellar performances up and down the lineup. However, special mentions go out to team captain Sean Couturier, top defenseman Travis Sanheim and goaltender Dan Vladar. Meanwhile, the recently struggling penalty kill went 3-for-3 with a shorthanded goal by Noah Cates.
With a back-to-back set to end the regular season, Brind'Amour may divide which players he dresses and which ones he rests between the two games. Carolina has won three games in a row and has a 23-12-4 road record this season. The Flyers have actually been better on the road (23-14-4) than they've been at home this season (18-13-8).
Here are the RAV4 Things to follow on Monday.
1. Exorcise two demons at one
The Flyers last made the playoffs in the pandemic-altered 2019-20 season. Entering the current season, they matched an unwanted team record of five straight season of missing the playoffs (previously set from 1989-90 to 1993-94). The lyers last hosted a playoff game -- Game 6 against Pittsburgh -- in the 2018 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal round.
With a win on Monday, that storyline can be put away.
So, too, can the Flyers' struggles in the 2020s to beat Carolina whether at home or on the road. Dating back to November 26, 2021, the Flyers are 1-9-7 in their last 17 games against the Hurricanes. Their most win over the Canes came back on Nov. 15, 2023 (3-1 road win). Since then, the Flyers are 0-4-4 in eight meetings with Carollina.
2. Home crowd energy
Monday's game is the single most important match the Flyers have played since the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs. It goes without saying that the Flyers' players are psyched up for this game and the Xfinity Mobile Arena atmosphere will be electric.
The challenge for the Flyers is to feed off that energy: Get off to strong start (and build a lead), don't take foolish penalties and don't panic if Carolina periodically hems them in the defensive zone.
The Flyers need to walk the fine line between adrenaline and impatience. They are the team with all the pressure on their shoulders. Channel it into the strongest 60 minutes (or more) of hockey they can play.
3. Balanced scoring
The addition of rookie Porter Martone (three goals and seven points in his first seven NHL games) and Tyson Foerster's return from injury after missing four months of action have been a shot in the arm for Philadelphia's attack.
Even more importantly, the Flyers have a good rhythm going with their four forward lines and their three defensive pairs. The backbone of the whole process has been strong goaltending.
Specific to the offensive attack, the Flyers have been getting contributions from different forward lines -- and from the defense -- on different nights. If they can continue that against Carolina, they have a solid chance to clinch their coveted playoff spot on Monday night.
4. The Foerster-Zegras-Tippett Line
The one line that did not fire on all cylinders on the team's last two games is the trio with Trevor Zegras (25 goals, 41 assists, 66 points) centering Foerster (13 goals,1 6 points in 27 games) and Owen Tippett (28 goals, 23 assists, 51 points). They had some strong shifts, too, but not the game-long dominance they've shown in their true A game.
Tippett only has one shot on goal in the past two games. Over the past four matches, he has one point (0g, 1a). He's posted two points (1g, 1a) in the last five games. He's shown that he can take over games with his combination of size and speed. If Tippett can crank out one of his games where presents a constant threat to score, he's capable of putting the team on his back for the one win they need to get over the playoff hump.
Zegras, the line's primary playmaker and most creative player, had a monster game in the team's win over New Jersey on April 7. However, he he was less effective in the latter two-thirds of the loss in Detroit and relatively quiet in Winnipeg.
Foerster, one of the team's best forecheckers and scoring threats anywhere from the top of the circle down toward the low slot, had a two goal performance of his own against the Devils. As with his linemates, he was held off the board in Detroit and Winnipeg. However, he certainly had his moments where he came close.
With this much talent on the line, the trio can only be held in relative check for so long. A big night against the Hurricanes would be huge for the team and couldn't come at a better time.
