Ehlers showing 'a little different flair' with Hurricanes 1 win from Eastern Final

PHILADELPHIA -- The Carolina Hurricanes are on the verge of reaching another Eastern Conference Final and you might be thinking, “What else is new?”

With a win against the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Saturday (6 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC), Carolina would advance to the conference final for the second straight season and third time in four seasons.

But if you wanted to see what’s new about the Hurricanes this season that could help them get past the conference final for the first time since they won the Stanley Cup in 2006, you need only to look at Nikolaj Ehlers.

“When he gets the puck, there's a little different flair,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said Friday. “He can kind of make something out of nothing, and that's a unique gift that not many players have in this league. And he certainly has that.”

That was evident on the forward's breakaway goal that sealed Carolina’s 4-1 victory in Game 3 of the best-of-7 series on Thursday.

On a semi-set play, Ehlers and linemate Jordan Martinook took off for the neutral zone following Jordan Staal’s defensive zone face-off win and defenseman K'Andre Miller's puck flip out to center ice. Flyers defensemen Travis Sanheim and Rasmus Ristolainen each converged on Martinook as the puck reached him near the center-ice face-off dot and he whacked it directly to Ehlers on the left wing, sending the speedster known as “Fly” in on alone against goalie Dan Vladar.

Ehlers finished the play by snapping a shot in over Vladar’s glove to increase Carolina’s lead to 4-1 at 7:08 of the third period.

“Obviously, my speed is what I am trying to use the most,” Ehlers said. “Playing with ‘Marty’ and ‘Jordo’, those two guys, they work their (rear ends) off. They play the right way. They get the pucks. They create a lot of room, a lot of space for me to use my speed and get into the open areas.”

Ehlers’ speed and game-breaking offensive ability were among the reasons the Hurricanes signed the 30-year-old to a six-year, $51 million contract on July 3, 2025. 

And having the chance to play deep into the Stanley Cup Playoffs was among the reasons Ehlers chose Carolina when he decided to explore unrestricted free agency after playing his first 10 NHL seasons with the Winnipeg Jets.

“I believed that this team had the pieces to keep competing in the playoffs, and I wanted to be a part of that,” Ehlers said. “Now being here for my first full season, I was right on what I was thinking. So I’m happy to be here.”

After finishing first in the Metropolitan Division during the regular season with a 53-22-7 mark for the best record in the conference, the Hurricanes have been dominant from the start in the playoffs, winning their first seven games, including a first-round sweep against the Ottawa Senators and victories in the first three games against Philadelphia. Another win Saturday would make Carolina the first team to sweep consecutive best-of-7 series to open the playoffs since the St. Louis Blues in 1969.

The Hurricanes trailed in only one of their first seven postseason games. They fell behind 2-0 in the opening 4:41 in Game 2 against the Flyers before Ehlers led their comeback to a 3-2 overtime victory with a power-play goal in the first period and an assist on forward Seth Jarvis’ tying goal in the third period.

Otherwise, Carolina has been firmly in control, with a tight defensive structure and goalie Frederik Andersen teaming to limit opponents to eight total goals in their seven wins, including not more than two in any of them. 

“It's been great,” Ehlers said. “This opportunity, you don't get it that often, and to be in the playoffs is special, so it's a lot of fun.”

Ehlers has played beyond the second round of the playoffs once in his NHL career. That came in 2018 when the Jets lost to the expansion Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final. 

Like during the regular season, when he was limited to four assists in his first 11 games, Ehlers started slowly in the postseason, with one point in his first four games -- an assist on Martinook’s winning goal in a 3-2 overtime win in Game 2 against Ottawa. 

But Ehlers, who missed Game 4 against the Senators with a lower-body injury, found other ways to help the Hurricanes when he wasn’t scoring and now seems to be finding his offensive game with three points (two goals, one assist) in the past two games.

“A lot of speed, a lot of skill, but also plays the game the right way,” Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho said. “I think he's been fantastic for us all year. Even early on, when he didn't necessarily score or be on the score sheet, you could tell he’s eventually going to score, and he's been big for us.”

Ehlers recovered from his slow start to the regular season to finish second on Carolina with 71 points (26 goals, 45 assists) in 82 games, behind Aho, who had 80 points (27 goals, 53 assists) in 79 games. It was the ninth time in the past 10 seasons Ehlers scored at least 20 goals and the sixth time he reached 25.

Playing on the third line with Staal and Martinook is probably not what the Hurricanes, or Ehlers, envisioned when he signed with them. It has turned out to be a good fit, though, and he’s more than held his own defensively when that line is matched against opponent’s top lines, which it often is.

“I’m trying to go out there and do anything I can to help this team win every single game,” Ehlers said. “So yes, we do have different roles. Everybody has a slightly different role. But at the same time, we all need to do the same things to help this team win, and we're prepared to do that.”