Can Flyers continue their surprising run with upset of Hurricanes?

The Philadelphia Flyers have been counted out all season.

When the 2025-26 regular season began, they were given almost no chance to make the playoffs in what was expected to be another rebuilding year. 

With a month left to play, their playoff chances dropped down to around 3.8%, resulting in everybody writing them off again.

Even when they did make the playoffs the consensus on their first-round matchup was that they would eventually lose to a deeper, more experienced Pittsburgh Penguins team. Then they won it in six games after jumping out to a 3-0 series lead. 

They have exceeded every expectation along the way, and as they head into their second-round series against the Carolina Hurricanes they are almost certainly going to be counted out again.

But do they have one more big upset left in them to continue what has been a surprising season? 

Do not rule it out.

Why Flyers can give Hurricanes a fight

On paper, this series should be a mismatch. 

Carolina is one of the best teams in the league, has a better roster and has been a consistent Stanley Cup contender for the past eight years. If you were to hold a fantasy draft involving only players in this series, there is a good chance Carolina would have the majority of the first 10 players off the board.

But this could still be a frustrating matchup for the Hurricanes given the way Philadelphia's style of play matches up with them.

This is not going to be a high-flying, offense-first series. Goals will be hard to come by. 

Carolina plays a grinding, aggressive forechecking game that is intended to wear teams down. They thrive on shot volume, not necessarily shot quality. They still score a lot of goals, but it's not always an aesthetically pleasing game. That can be shut down by a strong defensive team. 

That is where the tough matchup comes in. The Flyers may not have a lot of game-breakers offensively or top-line stars, but they are one of the best defensive teams in the league. That was on full display in the first round when they successfully locked down the third-highest scoring team in the league in the Penguins. 

Over the last 25 games of the regular season, Philadelphia and Carolina were two of the top-four teams in terms of allowing the fewest expected goals per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 play, and the Flyers were actually the better team in that regard. 

They also might have a slight edge in net with the way Dan Vladar is playing.

Everything points to this series turning into a tight-checking defensive slog. 

Games like that tend to come down to a bounce or two. You're basically leaving the game in the hands of a coin flip. Sometimes it goes your way, and sometimes it does not. And that is exactly how the four regular season meetings went. All four games were not only decided by a single goal, all of them went to overtime. That includes three games that went to a shootout. While there was a huge gap in the standings between the two teams in terms of points, there was almost no margin in the head-to-head games on the ice. 

There is also the human element and the impact of pressure and expectations. Carolina is expected to win. It is also facing the pressure of having to break through and get to the Stanley Cup Final with this core after coming so frustratingly close in recent years. That can wear on a team. Philadelphia, meanwhile, is playing with house money and has absolutely nothing to lose at this point. 

The Hurricanes are no strangers to the second round. But their recent playoff runs always fizzle out in the second or third round when their offense dries up against the top teams in the league. The Flyers might not be one of the best teams in the league on paper, but they are certainly defending like one. That should concern the Hurricanes.