Hurricanes trail for first time in 2026 playoffs, rally to beat Flyers in OT
The Carolina Hurricanes were deep into overtime of their second-round playoff game against Philadelphia on Monday, and Taylor Hall was determined to make a difference.
The Hurricanes’ winger didn’t believe he had been at his best in Game 2 against the Flyers. But it was his goal, with 1:06 left in OT, that propelled the Canes to a 3-2 victory at Lenovo Center, and a 2-0 lead in the series.
With the overtime winding down, Canes defenseman Sean Walker carried the puck through the neutral zone and got it to Hall on the left wing. Hall drove the net, got off a shot, fell, jumped back up and popped the puck past goalie Dan Vladar for the winner.
Canes winger Jackson Blake, crashing the net, got a piece of the puck before Hall finished and was credited with a shot and the primary assist.
“It was a gritty goal,” Hall said. “I didn’t do a good job of attacking tonight, personally. I got that puck and I wanted to get to the middle of the ice as much as I could.”
Hall smiled, saying he watched a replay of the goal after the game and didn’t remember falling down in front of the crease.
“When you score in overtime,” he joked, “sometimes your memory goes.”
A comeback win and overtime goal should be a nice memory to have as the best-of-seven Eastern Conference series shifts to Philadelphia for the next two games — Game 3 is Thursday night.
The Hurricanes never trailed in any of the four games in sweeping the Ottawa Senators in the opening round of the playoffs, and shut out the Flyers in Game 1. But the Flyers were quicker and more aggressive in Game 2, scoring two early goals for a 2-0 lead and forcing the Canes to fight back into it.
After a power-play goal by Nikolaj Ehlers in the first period, there was no more scoring — but a lot of penalties — until the third. Seth Jarvis’ first goal of the playoffs tied it 2-2 for the Canes with 8:39 left in regulation, and it soon was headed to overtime as Canes goalie Frederik Andersen and Vladar matched critical save with critical save.
“He made so many saves. He’s unflappable, our rock,” Ehlers said of Andersen, who faced 36 shots, 15 in overtime.
The Canes had to kill off an Andrei Svechnikov penalty in the overtime, and the Flyers’ Travis Konecny later had a chance to win it on a breakaway but was denied by Andersen with 4:45 left.
Then, Hall delivered the winner.
“As you get older and play this game a while, you have to figure out if you don’t have your ‘A’ game and maybe have your ‘B-minus’ game or something close to that, you have to find a way to contribute,” said Hall, who blocked a Noah Cates shot with six seconds left in regulation.
The Hurricanes would say they didn’t have their ‘A’ game. The Flyers did, for the most part. They had more jump in their game, won more puck battles than they did in the series opener and kept the Canes to the outside much of the game, which was marred by 15 penalties.
The Flyers had a pair of rapid-fire goals in the first when defenseman Jamie Drysdale scored on a power play and then captain Sean Couturier scored at even strength 39 seconds later with a shot in tight Just five minutes into the game and the Canes were in a 2-0 hole.
“That was not ideal,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “But I liked the way we played the rest of the first half of the game. We got it close. Too many penalties killed our game, killed the momentum. But we found a way to tie it up.”
A lot went into winning this one. Brind’Amour made a line switch that clicked with Jarvis playing with Jordan Staal and Ehlers. Walker had a tremendous game as did his defensive partner, K’Andre Miller. Logan Stankoven’s goal streak ended at five games, but his line was on the ice for the overtime winner.
The Canes allowed the power-play goal early, but the penalty killers did their job the rest of the game, capped by the big one in overtime.
“It was our first time trailing, which was a little weird, but we did a great job responding,” Miller said. “You have to find different ways to win playoff games.”
This story was originally published May 4, 2026 at 10:42 PM with the headline "Hurricanes trail for first time in 2026 playoffs, rally to beat Flyers in OT."
