Hurricanes assert dominance in Game 1, fueled by Stankoven's continued scoring and suffocating defense. Flyers struggle to generate offense.
Heading into this series, the Carolina Hurricanes were already considered heavy, heavy favorites, but after a Game 1 trouncing of the Philadelphia Flyers, I'm not even sure two "heavy"s was enough.
The Canes defeated the Flyers 3-0 Saturday night in front of sold out and rocking Lenovo Center and at no point did the game really feel close or competitive.
A lot was made about potential rust due to the Hurricanes' ample rest, the team hadn't played in a full week after sweeping the Ottawa Senators, but you wouldn't have been able to guess that they were supposed to be sluggish.
Right from the hop, Carolina was all over the Flyers, pinning them into their own defensive zone, forcing turnovers and generating looks and the game wasn't even two minutes old yet before the Canes struck.
And wouldn't you know it, it was Logan Stankoven once again being the man on the spot.
After winning a puck battle in the corner, Stankoven moved the puck up the wall and then went to the net front, where he then tipped home a Mike Reilly point shot past Dan Vladar for his fourth game-opening goal of the postseason.
Carolina didn't go away from there and after a bit more pressure, they struck again, this time in transition as Jackson Blake received an elite pass from Taylor Hall and then just proceeded to embarrass his man on the one-on-one battle before sliding the puck in past Vladar.
In seven and a half minutes, the Hurricanes had jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to their red hot second line and a defenseman who didn't even know he was playing until the morning of the game.
And things didn't get any better for the Flyers from there.
It was just dominance for Carolina in nearly every aspect and look no further for proof of that than the Philadelphia power play.
In four attempts, the Flyers managed just two shots on goal (both came in the final opportunity with Vladar pulled for the extra attacker as well mind you).
The Hurricanes had three shots on goal during the Flyers' power plays.
It was kind of sad actually.
The Canes would only find the back of the net once more in the game, as Seth Jarvis found Stankoven (who's now tied for the league lead in postseason goals with six) streaking in following an in-zone turnover by the Flyers, but at that point, they really didn't need any more offense.
They had a sizable lead and so they proceeded to just sit back and lock it down.
And despite heavily trailing heading into that third period, Philadelphia still only managed to have 10 5v5 shot attempts in the final frame and of those, only two made it to the net and none of them were considered high-danger chances.
Carolina is a team that will just absolutely suffocate all the life out of you once they get a lead and the Flyers just couldn't do anything.
I don't know if this was a precursor to what might be a very short series, but if the games continue to look like that, that's exactly what this will be.
Recent Articles
Stay updated with the most interesting Carolina Hurricanes stories, analysis, breaking news and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News to never miss a story.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.