What - Game 1 When - 8 p.m., Saturday, May 2 Where - Lenovo Center; Raleigh, NC How to Watch - ABC, Sportsnet, TVAS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Carolina Hurricanes will kick off the second round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs as they host the first game of their series against the Philadelphia Flyers. Carolina is coming off of a four-game sweep of the Ottawa Senators and have been off for a week now. However, that time has allowed them to rest up two players who missed time in Game 4 in Alexander Nikishin and Nikolaj Ehlers and both players are now expected to play. The Flyers are coming off of a 4-2 series win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Round 1. Philly went up 3-0 early, but the Penguins forced a Game 6 before the Flyers ultimately won in OT. Frederik Andersen and Dan Vladar have been two of the best goaltenders this postseason and the series is probably going to come down to which netminder can continue playing at a high level. Overall though, the Hurricanes have the deeper team and roster and should have the edge in terms of both scoring goals and preventing them. Add in eight straight years of playoff experience on the roster versus the fresh faced Flyers and it's easy to see why Carolina is the favorite. But the games are played on the ice and you can't pencil yourselves in too early, so the Hurricanes are going to have to play hard and prove that they're the better team if they want to advance. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- STREAKS * Logan Stankoven (4g, 1a) has goals in four straight games. * Taylor Hall (2g, 5a) has points in four straight games. * K'Andre Miller (3a) has points in three straight games. * Eric Robinson (2a) has points in back-to-back game. MILESTONE WATCH * N/A GAME NOTES * Carolina went 3-0-1 against Philadelphia this season, with every game being decided beyond regulation. * The Hurricanes have quite a few Flyers connections on the roster: Shayne Gostisbehere was drafted by Philly in 2012 and played there from 2014-2021; Sean Walker played for the Flyers for part of the 2023-24 season; Nicolas Deslauriers spent parts four seasons in Philadelphia and was traded just this past trade deadline; and Rod Brind'Amour played in 633 games as a Flyer from 1991-2000. * The two teams have never faced off in the playoffs before. * Sebastian Aho (15g, 35pts in 35gp) and Taylor Hall (15g, 38pts in 38gp) are point-per-game players for their regular season careers against Philly. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KEY MATCHUPS PROJECTED STARTING GOALIES * Frederik Andersen: 4-0; 0.955 Sv%; 1.1 GAA * Dan Vladar: 4-2; 0.937 Sv%; 1.61 GAA LEADING SCORERS * Goals - Logan Stankoven (4) / Travis Sanheim & Porter Martone (2) * Points - Taylor Hall (7) / Rasmus Ristolainen (5) POWER PLAY * Carolina - 13.3% (2/15) * Philadelphia - 11.8% (2/17) PENALTY KILL * Carolina - 95.2% (20/21) * Philadelphia - 84.2% (16/19) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 Injuries and Scratches: Mike Reilly, Charles Alexis Legault, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Nicolas Deslauriers, Pyotr Kochetkov -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FLYERS PROJECTED LINEUP Owen Tippett - Trevor Zegras - Porter Martone Denver Barkey - Christian Dvorak - Travis Konecny Tyson Foerster - Noah Cates - Matvei Michkov Luke Glendening - Sean Couturier - Garnet Hathaway Travis Sanheim - Rasmus Ristolainen Cam York - Jamie Drysdale Nick Seeler - Noah Juulsen Dan Vladar Sam Ersson Injuries and Scratches: Emil Andrae, Carson Bjarnason, Oliver Bonk, Alex Bump, Oscar Eklind, Jacob Gaucher, Helge Grans, David Jiricek, Carl Grundstrom, Alexsei Kolosov, Hunter McDonald, Garrett Wilson, Rodrigo Abols (ankle), Nikita Grebenkin (UBI) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 [https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMK-q0gsw7sXpAw/sections/CAQqEAgAKgcICjCvqtILMO7F6QMwmeDfCA?hl=en-CA&gl=CA&ceid=CA%3Aen] to never miss a story.
