3 Things to Watch: Hurricanes at Flyers, Game 4 of Eastern 2nd Round

(1M) Carolina Hurricanes at (3M) Philadelphia Flyers

Eastern Conference Second Round, Game 4

Carolina leads best-of-7 series 3-0

6 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC

PHILADELPHIA -- The Carolina Hurricanes can eliminate the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference Second Round and advance to the conference final for the second straight season and third time in four seasons at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Saturday.

The Hurricanes are 7-0 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, including wins in the first three games against the Flyers. They’re trying to focus on the smaller picture, though, and not think about what comes after their next win.

That approach served them well in the first round when they closed out the Ottawa Senators with a 4-2 victory in Game 4.

“Obviously, feeling very good we’re up 3-0 in the series,” Carolina forward Nikolaj Ehlers said Friday. “But that fourth one is the hardest one to get, and we know they're going to be ready to go tomorrow.”

The Hurricanes have trailed only once in their first seven games this postseason. That was when they fell behind 2-0 in the opening 4:41 in Game 2 against the Flyers before rallying to win 3-2 in overtime.

The Hurricanes are first in the playoffs in time leading (221 minutes, 47 seconds). It helps that they’ve allowed a League-low eight goals in their seven games.

“We're playing really hard,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We generally do that anyway, but I think we're getting by on some real good compete and effort and then some really good individual plays. You see on some of the goals, it's just really individual efforts. Our goaltending has been great. 

“So, it's been kind of a little different every game, but that's kind of been the calling card, I think, in these playoffs is finding a way to get it done.”

Teams that take a 3-0 lead in a best-of-7 series are 212-4 (.981) all-time, including 3-0 in the 2026 playoffs. The Flyers faced long odds throughout this season, though, and qualified for the playoffs by finishing third in the Metropolitan Division. Then, they upset the second-place Pittsburgh Penguins in six games in the first round.

“Our approach is anytime you play an NHL playoff game, it's an opportunity,” Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said. “This is our 10th playoff game. We have a chance to prolong our opportunity. That's the way you’ve got to look at it.”

With a win Saturday, Philadelphia would force Game 5 at Carolina on Monday. The Flyers experienced firsthand in the opening round how one win can turn a series.

They won the first three games before the Penguins won 4-2 in Game 4. After a 3-2 victory in Game 5, the Penguins got to within one goal of extending the series again before the Flyers prevailed 1-0 in overtime in Game 6.

“We’ve got a lot of belief and confidence in the room, and we know what it's like to be up 3-0, and that feeling when a team wins one game and then wins another game, and kind of how the locker room tightens up,” Philadelphia forward Trevor Zegras said. “I mean, it's playoffs. We're all really excited to be in this position, and we're going to give it a good effort tomorrow.”

Here are 3 things to watch in Game 4:

1. Sustaining the start

The Flyers started strong in the past two games. After jumping out to a 2-0 lead in Game 2, they had a chance to do it again in Game 3 on Thursday with Travis Konecny and Porter Martone each hitting the post on early scoring chances.

As the game progressed, though, the Hurricanes slowly began to dictate play with their relentless forecheck and went on to win 4-1. So, as pivotal as the start of this game will be, what happens after that will be equally important.

“Win the first five minutes and go from there,” Flyers goalie Dan Vladar said. “Win the first period, win the second and win the third, and then we can focus on the next game.”

2. Frederik Andersen

The Hurricanes goalie has yet to allow more than two goals in a game this postseason. The 36-year-old leads the NHL with a 1.02 goals-against average and .957 save percentage in the playoffs, and is tied with Vladar for the League lead with two shutouts. Andersen has stopped 71 of 74 shots in the three games against the Flyers for a 0.91 GAA, .959 save percentage and one shutout in the series.

His calm demeanor in net has instilled confidence in his teammates in front of him.

“He's a very experienced goalie, and you can feel that he's in the zone right now,” Ehlers said. “For us as a team, we don't want to rely on him too much, which I think we have done in games. Sometimes it's going to happen. He's going to need to make a big save, and he's been able to do that.”

3. Discipline

In the past two games, the Flyers have been short-handed 15 times and the Hurricanes have been short-handed 12 times. Neither team wants to be in the penalty box that often, but it was particularly costly for the Flyers in Game 3 when the Hurricanes went 2-for-9 on the power play and scored short-handed.

“We just can't take eight or nine penalties,” Tocchet said. “You know, it's the flow of the game. I thought for the most part, other than Game 1, the 5-on-5, we've been pretty good against this team. It's just the other parts of the game, even the 4-on-4 stuff. They're better at that stuff, than us. So, we just got to play our game, and that's more discipline.”

Hurricanes projected lineup

Andrei Svechnikov -- Sebastian Aho -- Seth Jarvis

Taylor Hall -- Logan Stankoven -- Jackson Blake

Nikolaj Ehlers -- Jordan Staal -- Jordan Martinook

William Carrier -- Mark Jankowski -- Eric Robinson

Jaccob Slavin -- Jalen Chatfield

K'Andre Miller -- Sean Walker

Shayne Gostisbehere -- Alexander Nikishin

Frederik Andersen

Brandon Bussi

Scratched: Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Nicolas Deslauriers, Mike Reilly, Pyotr Kochetkov

Injured: None

Flyers projected lineup

Alex Bump -- Trevor Zegras -- Porter Martone

Tyson Foerster -- Christian Dvorak -- Travis Konecny

Carl Grundstrom -- Denver Barkey -- Matvei Michkov

Luke Glendening -- Sean Couturier -- Garnett Hathaway

Travis Sanheim -- Rasmus Ristolainen

Cam York -- Jamie Drysdale

Nick Seeler -- Emil Andrae

Dan Vladar

Samuel Ersson

Scratched: Garrett Wilson, Noah Juulsen, Jett Luchanko, Oliver Bonk, David Jiricek, Carson Bjarnason, Helge Grans, Hunter McDonald, Oscar Eklind, Jacob Gaucher

Injured: Rodrigo Abols (lower body), Nikita Grebenkin (upper body), Owen Tippett (undisclosed), Noah Cates (lower body)

Status report

The Hurricanes will not hold a morning skate. ... The Hurricanes are not expected to change their lineup following their 4-1 win in Game 3. ... The Flyers held an optional practice Friday and will hold an optional morning skate. Tippett took part in practice, but the forward remains a game-time decision. He has missed the first three games of the series.