How Logan Stankoven, Sebastian Aho led Carolina past Flyers

Game 1 between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference Semifinal is in the books, and once again, as they have so far throughout the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, it was the Hurricanes who came out on top without trailing once.

The Hurricanes, who swept the Ottawa Senators in the opening round, are now a perfect 5-0 in the postseason thanks to their 3-0 shutout victory over the visiting Flyers at Lenovo Center on Saturday evening in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Hurricanes forward Logan Stankoven, who was acquired at the NHL trade deadline last season as part of the blockbuster Mikko Rantanen deal, remained red hot by scoring his fifth playoff goal just 91 seconds into the first period.

As if that weren’t enough, Stankoven doubled-dipped at 16:16 of the second period, scoring his second goal of the evening and sixth goal of the playoffs. Meanwhile, teammate Frederik Anderson stopped all 19 shots that he faced from the Flyers to pick up the shutout, while Philadelphia forward Owen Tippett was unavailable due to an undisclosed injury.

It’s been a tremendous run for Stankoven, who is proving to be worth every penny of the eight-year, $48 million extension that he recently signed with the club.

He continues to be one of the most valuable players on the Hurricanes’ roster. He is their current leading playoff goal scorer, followed by Sebastian Aho, who tallied twice in Carolina’s 4-2 win over the Senators, sweeping them aside in the previous round.

Game 2 between the Flyers and the Hurricanes will be played on Monday evening before the series shifts for Games 3 and 4 to Philadelphia’s Xfinity Mobile Arena.