One of the four series is set in stone for the second round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, with the Carolina Hurricanes going against the Philadelphia Flyers. Not only are these teams battling for supremacy in the Metropolitan Division, but the winner will punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they'll either face the winner of the Buffalo Sabres-Boston Bruins series or the winner of the Tampa Bay Lightning-Montreal Canadiens series.

The Hurricanes made quick work of the Ottawa Senators in the first round of the 2026 Playoffs. They swept the Sens and never trailed at any point during that series. As a result, Carolina has been off since April 25th, waiting for the other first-round matchups to finish.

The Canes' goaltending and forward Logan Stankoven played a huge part in that matchup with the Senators. Starter Frederik Andersen leads all postseason goaltenders in save percentage (.955) and goals allowed per game (1.10). We also have to recognize the outstanding play of Stankoven, who has scored in every game he has played and has five points so far in the playoffs.

The Philadelphia Flyers had a much more tumultuous path to the second round of the playoffs. After taking a 3-0 lead against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Pens bounced back and won two straight, which set up a pivotal Game Six last night. The goaltending was phenomenal in that contest, with both teams tied 0-0 at the end of the third period to force overtime. However, Philly defenseman Cam York scored the series-clinching goal with over 17:30 gone in OT to bounce the Penguins out of the playoffs.

Just like Carolina, Philly's goaltending has been lights out. The Flyers' Dan Vladar is the only player in the 2026 postseason to record at least two shutouts so far. He also has the fourth-highest save percentage of all goalies left in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs (.937). He'll need to maintain that performance if the Flyers want to upset the top-seeded team in the East.

Though the Hurricanes won the regular-season series 3-1, Philly came out victorious in their most recent matchup, downing Carolina 3-2 in a shootout. That game took place on April 13th, so it could be seen as a valid assessment of how this thing might play out. But, if we're being honest, that result should be taken with a grain of salt because Frederik Andersen was not in goal for the Canes during that game. Had he been the starter, Carolina might've pulled off the regular-season sweep of the Flyers.

Prediction for Carolina Hurricanes vs. Philadelphia Flyers

The goaltending in this series will undoubtedly be top-notch. Andersen and Vladar rank first and fourth in goals allowed per game amongst the goalies remaining in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs (1.10 and 1.61, respectively). It's not even like those guys went against bad offenses in the first round. Pittsburgh was first in goals per game since March 1st (3.88), while Ottawa ranked sixth in that category (3.62).

Unfortunately for the Flyers faithful, Philly doesn't match up well with Carolina in any other area. The Canes have a scoring advantage (2.75 goals per game vs. 2.67 goals per game) and an edge in terms of special teams since Carolina has a better penalty kill and power play than Philadelphia.

Carolina will also get more power play opportunities in this series. They have only had 15 power plays in the postseason, which is the third fewest amongst all playoff teams. Meanwhile, the Flyers have had the second-most penalties called against them in the postseason. Those mistakes will end up costing Philly down the stretch, since they have struggled to find consistent scoring. At the same time, Carolina is bound to score more power play goals with more special-teams opportunities.

Hurricanes win the series 4-2