Round 2, Game 2 – Player of the Game: Taylor Hall
RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA - MAY 04: Taylor Hall #71 of the Carolina Hurricanes is recognized as one of the stars of the game after the victory against the Philadelphia Flyers in Game Two of the Second Round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Lenovo Center on May 04, 2026 in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Josh Lavallee/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images When a player scores the game-winning goal in overtime, you would think he would be a no-brainer selection to be named “Player of the Game”, but I struggled with this one. I absolutely loved Jackson Blake’s gritty play on the puck while he battled to get that puck loose in the crease, enabling Hall to score the goal.
Those are the unsung plays that win games. By the way, Blake is second on the team in postseason scoring with eight points, just behind Hall’s nine points. I thought K’Andre Miller’s play was solid all game and it has been all postseason as was Jaccob Slavin’s.
After the opening minutes, Frederik Andersen was a brick wall and certainly deserves accolades. Carolina could not have won the game without him. Still, Hall was the one who took the puck to the net, got knocked down, and still had the drive and composure to hammer the puck into the net to win the game.
Hall as been one of, if not the best forward for Carolina in the playoffs and has looked like a man possessed at times out there. He will need to keep it up, as will the rest of the boys, in order for the Canes to continue their success. After switching up the lines a bit in the third period of game two, the original lines are back together at this morning’s skate.
Everyone was on the ice. Reports from the rink follow: Ahead of an afternoon flight to Philadelphia, the #Canes are practicing at Lenovo Center. Alexander Nikishin is on the ice, but it's Mike Reilly still working with Shayne Gostisbehere.