×
×
homepage logo
LOGIN
SUBSCRIBE

Stanley Cup Playoffs: Hurricanes oust Flyers; Avs suffer first loss

By The Associated Press - | May 10, 2026

Carolina's Jackson Blake (53, Nikolaj Ehlers and goaltender Frederik Anderson celebrate Blake's OT goal that sent the Flyers packing in Game 4 of their Stanley Cup Playoff second round series in Philadelphia. (AP photo)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jackson Blake scored 5:28 into overtime for his second of the game, Logan Stankoven also scored in regulation and the Carolina Hurricanes finished a four-game sweep with a 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight season.

Frederik Andersen made 15 saves for Carolina, which has not lost in eight playoff games.

Alex Bump and Tyson Foerster scored for the Flyers.

Taylor Hall and Jaccob Slavin assisted the winning goal. Blake’s shot from the slot bounced off Dan Vladar’s glove and over the goal line.

“Once I saw it go in, just excitement,” Blake said.

Vladar stopped 37 shots for Philadelphia.

Carolina will play the winner of Buffalo and Montreal in the Eastern Conference finals after the NHL’s first 8-0 start in the playoffs since 1985.

“Everyone is chipping in; everyone is doing their job,” Hall said.

Andersen has started every game in the postseason, winning them all.

“He’s just playing lights out,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said.

The Hurricanes, who reached the Eastern Conference finals for the third time in four years, are looking for their first Stanley Cup since 2006. Carolina is the 24th team in league history to win eight or more consecutive games during a playoff run. Eighteen of them have won the Stanley Cup.

“For me, it’s just fun to sit back there and watch it, to be honest,” Brind’Amour said.

Philadelphia scored just five goals over the four games. After an unlikely berth in the playoffs, fans saluted the home team when it was over with chants of, “Let’s go, Flyers!”

“I can’t ask for more,” Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said.

Bump scored 5:52 into the third period to tie the game at 2-2.

Stankoven’s seventh tally of the playoffs 4:13 into the third period gave Carolina a 2-1 lead after he finished a beautiful cross-ice pass from Hall with a one-timer from just outside of the crease. Philadelphia evened the score 1:39 later when Bump shot past Andersen’s glove side from the slot after a setup from Travis Konecny from behind the net.

Blake tied it at 1-1 with 7:25 remaining in the second when his wrist shot from along the boards caromed off Philadelphia defenseman Jamie Drysdale and past Vladar. It appeared as if Carolina went in front just 28 seconds later when Mark Jankowski beat Vladar, but the goal was overturned following a challenge by Tocchet when officials ruled that Carolina’s William Carrier interfered with Vladar.

The Flyers had a pair of good chances late in the period to take the lead but could not convert. The best opportunity came in the final seconds of the period when Christian Dvorak’s wrist shot from close range went off the post on Andersen’s glove side.

Carolina finished regulation with a 36-15 advantage in shots.

Russian winger Matvei Michkov was a healthy scratch for the Flyers. Michkov, 23, was the No. 7 overall pick in 2023 by Philadelphia and was heralded as an important piece for the rebuilding franchise’s future. But the right wing has struggled thus far in his first playoff experience, garnering one point while accumulating a minus-3 in eight games. It is the second time he has been a healthy scratch this postseason, following Game 5 against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round.

WESTERN CONFENCE SEMIS

WILD 5, AVS 1

Kirill Kaprizov scored first and assisted on the next two goals as the Minnesota Wild forced a goalie change and handed the Colorado Avalanche their first loss in this postseason in Game 3 of their second-round NHL playoff series in Minneapolis.

Quinn Hughes followed Kaprizov’s four-on-four score late in the first period with a four-on-three goal less than two minutes later. Ryan Hartman batted in a deflected power-play shot with 4:23 elapsed in the second period to prompt an early departure for Avalanche goalie Scott Wedgewood, who was replaced by Mackenzie Blackwood.

Nathan MacKinnon got the Avalanche on the board on a power play later in the second period before Brock Faber answered just 20 seconds later by deflecting a puck past Blackwood.

Matt Boldy added an empty-net goal and Jesper Wallstedt made 34 saves in his return to the net for the Wild after a 9-6 loss in the unhinged series opener prompted a start for Filip Gustavsson in Game 2.

The Avalanche will take a 2-1 lead into Game 4 in Minnesota on Monday, before the teams return to Colorado for Game 5 on Wednesday.