The Carolina Hurricanes didn’t need a perfect night to keep the surge going in Philadelphia. They just needed a stretch where their best players snapped to attention - and that was enough to carry them past the Flyers, 4-1, for their fifth straight win.
A scoreless first period gave way to a second that finally cracked open, and once the Hurricanes found their rhythm, they never really let it go. Andrei Svechnikov started the scoring with a sharp blocker-side finish.
Sebastian Aho followed with a gorgeous setup for Shayne Gostisbehere, then added one of his own 88 seconds after Christian Dvorak briefly pulled the Flyers back within reach. Mark Jankowski finished the job late in the third with a goal in his fourth straight game.
That late Jankowski strike didn’t just close the door on Philadelphia. It also gave Jordan Martinook his 200th point as a Hurricane.
The top line was the engine again, and it didn’t need special-teams help to get moving. Svechnikov, Aho, and William Carrier all finished with two points, and all three Hurricanes goals came at 5-on-5. That mattered on a night when the power play didn’t have much bite, despite eight opportunities.
Aho’s night was especially loud. His point streak reached six games, and his goal tied him for the league lead with six. Svechnikov’s shot finally broke through Joseph Woll, while Gostisbehere cashed in on the kind of feed that makes a line look unstoppable when it gets rolling.
With captain Jordan Staal scratched because of a lower-body injury, the Hurricanes had to shuffle some pieces. Mark Jankowski moved up to the third line, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi slid from the wing to center the fourth line.
The group handled it fine. Kotkaniemi won 56 percent of his draws, Logan Stankoven won 80 percent, and while Jankowski and Aho had rougher nights at the dot, the overall center group held up.
Jankowski’s goal was the latest sign that he’s found a real groove, and his streak now sits at four games. Kotkaniemi’s line looked strong, too, giving Carolina enough depth to survive without Staal for the night. After the game, there wasn’t much of an update on the captain.
Pyotr Kochetkov did his part as well. Philadelphia managed only 19 shots, and Kochetkov stopped 18 of them.
The lone puck that got past him came on a redirection, the kind of play a goalie can’t do much about. It was another clean outing for a Hurricanes goaltender after Brandon Bussi had turned in a strong performance against Chicago.
Through three starts, Kochetkov has allowed just five goals. That leaves Carolina with a real decision to make for Tuesday, when the Canes return home to face the Washington Capitals. With three days between games, the team has time to sort it out, but either way, the goalie tandem is giving them exactly what they want: two guys who keep answering the bell.
The win was Carolina’s fourth straight on the road, and it sends the streak back to Raleigh for the final home game before a long stretch away. After Tuesday’s rematch with Washington, the Hurricanes won’t play at home again for two weeks. Then comes five straight on the road, starting Saturday in Winnipeg.
In Other News...
Jordan Staal News Forces Hurricanes Into A Sudden Flyers Shuffle
A late change to the lineup sent the Hurricanes into a different look for their game against the Flyers, with the center depth chart taking on a new shape just before puck drop. Jordan Staal, a fixture in Carolinas matchup-heavy minutes, was ruled out with a lower-body injury shortly before the opening faceoff, forcing the coaching staff to adjust on the fly.
Mark Jankowski stepped into Staals third-line center spot, while Jesperi Kotkaniemi slid down the middle behind him. For a Carolina team that leans on its center group to drive both pace and defensive structure, the shuffle is the kind of wrinkle that can ripple through the rest of the evening, even if it starts with one unexpected absence. [Read more 🡒]
Hurricanes Just Exposed How Badly The Flyers Need Defensive Answers
Seven games into the 2026-27 season, the Flyers are already in a familiar kind of scramble, only this time the damage is showing up on the back end. A trip through Carolina offered a blunt reminder of how fragile the defensive structure has become, with coverage lapses turning into easy looks for the Hurricanes and adding to a start that looks nothing like the steadier stretches Philadelphia had managed in recent years.
The Flyers have already been forced to lean on youth because injuries and uneven play have thinned out their blue line, and Oliver Bonks arrival from the AHL was supposed to help stabilize things. Instead, the rookie found himself in the middle of a difficult night as the Hurricanes kept pressing, leaving Philadelphia still searching for answers and still waiting for someone on defense to provide them. [Read more 🡒]
Hurricanes Still Face A Nikishin Standoff With No Easy Next Step
Alexander Nikishin remains in a holding pattern as the NHL season gets rolling, with interest from teams like the Rangers, Blues and Predators not yet leading to a deal. For Carolina, the timing matters because once games are underway, trade urgency tends to fade and leverage can shift back toward the player, especially when a young defenseman is still trying to sort out his place with the organization.
The contract issues here have been layered from the start, with term length and salary demands making the talks difficult enough before Nikishin recently changed representation. If a trade does not materialize, a return to the Hurricanes may become the clearest path toward resetting the situation and regaining leverage, but the standoff still leaves plenty unresolved about when, or how, the next real move gets made. [Read more 🡒]