Stankoven, Andersen lead Hurricanes past Flyers 3-0 in Game 1 of 2nd-round series

Game 2 of the series is Monday night in Raleigh, with Carolina yet to trail in any of its five postseason games so far after jumping to a 2-0 first-period lead in this one.

“We had a good start, obviously,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “That’s what won the game.”

Carolina closed a first-round sweep of Ottawa last weekend, then had an extended break while the Flyers battled to push past Pittsburgh in overtime of Game 6 on Wednesday night. That led to rest-versus-rust conversations about how the Eastern Conference’s top seed would start Saturday night.

Instead, the Hurricanes pounced from the opening puck drop, a departure from how all four regular-season meetings went to overtime or a shootout.

Stankoven scored in each of the four wins against the Senators, then scored on a redirect from the slot just 1:31 in.

“I think you’re just trying to get it off quick,” Stankoven said. “Obviously, it’s nice to have that confidence that comes with putting the puck in the net, and yeah, you just kind of build off of it.”

Blake followed at 7:30, splitting two defenders as he entered the zone and charging in to slip a puck behind Dan Vladar.

That was more than enough offense on this night with the Flyers struggling to apply much pressure on Andersen — who opened the Ottawa series with a shutout, too.

“We definitely came ready to play,” Andersen said.

Philadelphia started its first postseason since 2020 by battling through Pittsburgh to close out a six-game series in overtime on Cam York’s Wednesday night winner. But the Flyers sputtered from the start, managing just nine shots on goal through two periods and being outshot 3-2 on their four power plays for the night.

Otherwise, they struggled to find much open ice with Carolina’s aggressive style closing in rapidly to shut down lanes toward Andersen or for the pass.

“We talked about it, we just didn’t live it on the ice,” Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said, pointing to a need to react quicker against Carolina’s pressure. “We weren’t quick enough for their speed. ... It’s a good baptism how some of our players are going to have to play.”

By the final 10 minutes, the game had turned testy with players having to be separated multiple times. That included 10-minute misconduct penalties on Philadelphia’s Trevor Zegras and Nick Seeler, along with Blake and Shayne Gostisbehere for Carolina.

Both teams were down key players. The Flyers didn’t have regular-season goals leader Owen Tippett because of an undisclosed injury, while the Hurricanes were missing defenseman Alexander Nikishin after he suffered a concussion in Game 4 against Ottawa.

Carolina veteran Mike Reilly drew in for Nikishin and had the primary assist on Stankoven’s first goal and the secondary assist on Blake’s score.

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl