Hurricanes vs. Flyers Game 3: Key takeaways as Carolina rolls to 3-0 series lead

AtlanticBruinsCanadiensLightningMaple LeafsPanthersRed WingsSabresSenatorsMetropolitanBlue JacketsCapitalsDevilsFlyersHurricanesIslandersPenguinsRangersCentralAvalancheBlackhawksBluesJetsMammothPredatorsStarsWildPacificCanucksDucksFlamesGolden KnightsKingsKrakenOilersSharksScores & ScheduleStandingsPodcastsFantasyNHL OddsNHL PicksPlayoff bracketNHL Draft rankingRed Light NewsletterStanley Cup Andrei Svechnikov scored his first goal of the playoffs in the third period of Game 3. He wasn't alone. Bruce Bennett / Getty Images Share articlePHILADELPHIA — Seven games in, the Carolina Hurricanes are still perfect in the playoffs. Goals from Jordan Staal and Andrei Svechnikov on the power play, Jalen Chatfield while shorthanded, and Nikolaj Ehlers at even strength provided the Hurricanes with a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Game 3 of their second-round Stanley Cup playoff series. The Hurricanes can complete the sweep on Saturday in Philadelphia. The turning point came in the late stages of the second period with the game tied 1-1. After Carolina forward Taylor Hall was called for boarding Travis Sanheim — the play was initially called a major before being downgraded to a minor — the Flyers went on the power play with a chance to seize their first lead. Instead, the Hurricanes’ Jordan Martinook was able to poke the puck past Jamie Drysdale at the point, springing Staal and Chatfield on a two-on-one. Staal’s pass through Flyers forward Trevor Zegras gave Chatfield an open lane to shoot, and he buried it through goalie Dan Vladar at 15:59 for the eventual game-winner. The Flyers still had a prime opportunity to re-tie the game after Chatfield’s goal, which came just 11 seconds into the power play. After coincidental minors to Seth Jarvis and Travis Konecny, the Hurricanes were tagged with a bench minor for unsportsmanlike conduct, likely due to Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour barking at the officials. That gave the Flyers a two-man advantage for 1:15. But they failed to convert, with their only dangerous opportunity coming on a Matvei Michkov redirection. The Flyers finished 0-for-5 on the power play. Carolina increased its lead to 3-1 early in the third, thanks to Svechnikov’s perfectly placed one-timer on a seam pass from Sebastian Aho. The Hurricanes were 2-for-7 on the power play. After surviving an early push by the Flyers, who were playing their first home game in the second round in front of fans for the first time since 2012, Staal opened the scoring at 17:27 with Philadelphia center Sean Couturier in the box for tripping. Svechnikov’s shot went wide, but rebounded off of the end wall back out in front, where Staal swiped it through. The Flyers tied it at 2:31 of the second period. Rookie Porter Martone’s point shot hit defenseman Emil Andrae in front, bouncing to Zegras, who managed to lift it high over Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen. It was Zegras’ first point in five games, and Martone’s first in six games. There wasn’t a whole lot of flow to the game, and referees Garrett Rank and Kyle Rehman were quick to send players to the box, calling a total of 21 minor penalties. The teams combined for nearly 20 minutes of power-play time. Coming into the game, Carolina had scored six total goals — and four of them were from linemates Logan Stankoven, with two, and Jackson Blake and Taylor Hall with one apiece. The Hurricanes diversified a bit in Game 4, scoring three times on special teams and once at five-on-five, when Ehlers got his second of the series with a wrister past Vladar that made it 4-1. The other goal-scorers, Staal, Svechnikov and Chatfield, all had zero in their first six postseason games. “I think in the playoffs, you need all four lines,” Ehlers said between Games 2 and 3. “It doesn’t matter who scores the goals as long as we win the games. And, you know, so far, obviously, (Stankoven, Blake and Hall) have taken a big load of that. But some games it’s going to be our line. Some games it’s going to be (Mark Jankowski’s) line. So you want that. You want some different lines getting hot at different times and win some games, and we’ve been able to do that so far.” It was only a matter of time before the Flyers’ pathetic power play, last in the regular season and now just 3-for-33 in the playoffs, became their undoing. But it was particularly putrid on Thursday. They had the first power play of the game with 6:26 to go in the first period and the game still scoreless, and couldn’t even get set up. Their misplay on Chatfield’s goal proved costly, as did their ineptitude on a two-man advantage shortly after that. For all the good things that Tocchet and his staff have done this season, their failure to ice anything resembling a competent power play is baffling, considering it was supposed to be one of Tocchet’s strengths. The way Carolina defenseman Jaccob Slavin uses his stick, both to muscle down cross-ice passes and as a tool for more precise plays, has become a major part of his reputation as one of the best blueliners the league. We got a look at him at his best with 1:34 remaining, when he pulled a shot by Rasmus Ristolainen that had squeezed past Andersen off the goal line. Another split second and the game hits intermission tied 1-1. Andersen, rightfully, gave Slavin a quick “thank you” tap with his stick. The play also helped guarantee that Philadelphia, despite a series of prime chances, came out of first period with nothing on the board. The overall stats didn’t nearly reflect that — Carolina controlled all-situations shot attempts 29-12 and high-danger chances 6-4 and held nearly 70 percent of the expected goal share — but the Flyers were a few fractions of an inch away from a multi-goal lead. Andersen’s play between the pipes has been a positive development for Carolina all postseason — he came into Game 3 with a .923 save percentage — and Thursday was no different. He had a strong first period, including a first-minute stop on an in-clear Konecny that was subtle enough to not initially scan as a save and another on Alex Bump alone in front. He probably saved his best work for a sequence more than eight minutes into the second period, though. After Bump slid into the crease on an attempt and sent Andersen to the ice, the goalie recovered, regained his composure and was ready when Martone sent the play back into Carolina’s end. Bump took a pass from Martone for another point-blank opportunity; Andersen waited him out, forcing him to over-handle the puck and send an attempt off the side of the net. It didn’t count as a save, but it was the sort of rise-to-the-occasion moment the Hurricanes say they’ve come to expect from Andersen. Winger Noah Cates’ series-ending lower-body injury removed a versatile piece from the Flyers’ lineup, forcing coach Rick Tocchet to get creative. He kept rookie Denver Barkey in the middle, between Michkov and Carl Grundstrom, while reinserting Garnet Hathaway into the series after the veteran was a healthy scratch in Game 2. Zegras, who had moved to the wing for Game 2, also shifted back to center with youngsters Bump and Martone. The Zegras-Bump-Martone line had some pop, including what was Martone’s best game since early in the Penguins series. Bump had a glorious chance in front of the net, receiving a pass from Martone when it was still a 1-1 game with about 12 minutes to go in the second period, but he pulled his shot wide after a quick deke. Carolina’s Brind’Amour has expressed frustration throughout the series at the amount of penalties his team is taking. In the second period, the coach took one of his own. With 3:27 remaining left before intermission in a 2-1 game, Brind’Amour was called for a bench minor, putting his team down two men; Brind’Amour was seemingly livid over the officials’ decision to send Jarvis to the box on a high-stick call that came moments after they’d called holding on Drysdale. The penalty was the sixth of seven called between both teams in the second period alone, which effectively nuked any hope either team had of sustaining five-on-five momentum. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms