Beast of the East: Hurricanes Clinch Eastern Conference in Shootout Loss to Flyers
Kyle Ross-Imagn Images For the first time in 20 years, the Carolina Hurricanes cemented themselves as the best Eastern Conference team throughout the regular season. It didn’t come with some dramatic effect, nor did it come with a sparkling win – but it came nonetheless. Beginning the night with some of their six best players off the starting lineup, they faced a hungry Philadelphia Flyers team fighting for their chance to appear in the postseason.
Jordan Staal (undisclosed), Sebastian Aho (undisclosed), Andrei Svechnikov (undisclosed), Seth Jarvis (undisclosed), Jaccob Slavin (undisclosed) and Shayne Gostisbehere (undisclosed) will miss tonight’s game against the Flyers. — Hurricanes PR (@CanesPR) April 13, 2026 The first period was all Carolina, who took a two-goal lead by the end of the frame. The first goal came from the stick of Bradly Nadeau, assisted by Nikolaj Ehlers, who sent a no-look pass to the rookie who had positioned himself in the slot.
A few minutes later, the Hurricanes gained the man advantage due to a holding penalty, which Ehlers managed to capitalize on. In doing so, he notched the first 70-point season of his 11-season career. However, the second period was the Flyers’ – scoring two to tie the game.
The first goal came from Matvei Michkov, with the play starting due to a giveaway from the Hurricanes. Meanwhile, their second goal was during the power play – a snapshot from the man that drew the penalty, Trevor Zegras, who had been left completely alone by Brandon Bussi’s net. During the intermission, Ehlers spoke on the two goals they had allowed, identifying that they were a result of puck mismanagement and it was something that they would need to tighten up on in the following frame.
In fact, they did pull together defensively in the final period, allowing only four giveaways compared to the second period’s nine. But ultimately, Philadelphia wasn’t giving up all that much, either. The game remained at a stalemate through regulation, and then just as it has been every time they’ve faced each other this season, they went into overtime.