PHILADELPHIA — The Hurricanes hit the road for the first time in the second round when they play the Flyers on Thursday. Carolina leads the series 2-0 and will look to take full control against a Philadelphia team that has lost four of five.
1. Hurricanes defenseman Alexander Nikishin has been inching his way toward returning to the lineup since suffering a concussion in Game 4 of the Ottawa series, and Thursday’s morning skate was the clearest indication he will be back for a game against the Flyers.
Nikishin skated alongside frequent defense partner Shayne Gostisbehere at the skate, and coach Rod Brind’Amour again said he “hoped he could go tonight — he’s not 100% yet.”
Nikishin suffered a concussion last season in the KHL and told me after the skate his recovery was similar this time around — about five days. He said he felt he was ready ahead of Game 2 and excited about jumping back into the lineup.
Mike Reilly played the first two games of the series, picking up a pair of assists in the first 7½ minutes of Game 1 in Raleigh, and would be scratched should Nikishin play. Flyers coach Rick Tocchet confirmed Owen Tippett will miss his third straight game in the series, but he expects Christian Dvorak to play. Noah Cates, ruled out for the series on Wednesday, also won’t play, and Trevor Zegras will move to center to fill the void.
2. Gostisbehere said he and the team are trying to impress upon Nikishin to shoot more.
“We want him to shoot the puck as much as possible,” Gostisbehere said of the 24-year-old Nikishin, who ranked in the 99th percentile in the league in 90 mph-plus shots with 39 during the regular season, according to NHL EDGE stats.
Nikishin registered seven of the Hurricanes’ 10 hardest shots in the regular season, including a team-best 99.4-mph shot against St. Louis on March 12. Even if his shot doesn’t end up in the net, it is certain to make defenders think twice about stepping in front of it.
“If it’s not going in, it’s going to hurt someone,” Gostisbehere said. “So, obviously, we just want him to shoot the puck.”
Brind’Amour praised Nikishin’s offensive instincts but suggested he may lean into his playmaking skills a little too much at this point in his career.
“He’s got a real offensive mind,” Brind’Amour said, “and he’s always looking for the next play, which works sometimes. But sometimes, simpler is better. It probably doesn’t help that he has Ghost as his partner to watch because he’s trying to play the same game, and sometimes that doesn’t really work. But he definitely has that flair.”
If Nikishin does get in, Brind’Amour wants Nikishin to bring that flair — and also his physicality.
“He can play physical,” Brind’Amour said. “And if he’s in the lineup, that’s what he needs to bring.”
As for Gostisbehere, he said he’s not concerned he’s been held without a point through six games of the postseason — the first time since January 2025 he’s gone that long without a point.
“Maybe if we weren’t doing so good,” Gostisbehere said when I asked him if there was any frustration with not being in the box score. “I think team success in the playoffs is the most important thing.
“Obviously, you want to contribute as much as you can on the score sheet. But I think some stuff I’m doing is not showing up on the score sheet, but it’s helping us win. So that’s good enough for me. Obviously, you want to see some points go up, but like I said, when you’re 6-0 in playoffs, it’s hard to look at something to complain about.”
3. Much has been made of Brind’Amour returning to Philadelphia for a series against the team for which he played nine seasons and 57 playoff games. You don’t have to scour social media long to find Flyers fans who still love Brind’Amour, who encapsulated everything Philly fans want from their athletes — hard work, determination and success.
“I’ve always thought of them as one of the best fan bases,” Brind’Amour said before the series. “They’re fair, and if you put in the good effort, it’s there for you. If you’re not, they let you know about it.
“That’s actually what kept me on my toes all the time I played there because you didn’t want to disappoint them because you knew you’d hear about it. And so I actually think it’s a real positive.”
There aren’t many instances of a beloved former player coming back to coach against his old team — coincidentally, it’s happened twice this postseason: Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis returned to Tampa Bay, where his number is retired, last round.
Philadelphia coach Rick Tocchet — himself a former Flyers player — echoed Brind’Amour’s sentiments.
“He was an effort guy, right?” Tocchet said of Brind’Amour. “The Flyers fans love you — they love effort. And he’s a classy guy. So obviously, they have an affection for him. I hope not tonight, though.”
4. The Hurricanes would love to have a start similar to the one they had in Game 3 against Ottawa. Up 2-0 in the series, Carolina needed just over five minutes in the first game at Canadian Tire Center to deflate an excited crowd.
Logan Stankoven’s goal gave the Hurricanes a lead they wouldn’t relinquish, and all that was left was completing the sweep two days later to advance to the second round.
“There’s momentum, there’s extra noise obviously, and Stanks did a good job of quieting that building,” Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal said. “But, yeah, it’s our job to try to quiet them down and get to our game and try to take it over.”
Andrei Svechnikov expects the Xfinity Mobile Center fans to be loud from the start of Game 3, and he said Carolina will be ready for it.
“It’s all mentality,” he said. “You just kind of go and try to focus on your game and play your game. It’s hard, but you deal with that every playoff, every road game, and (you) kind of get used to that.”
The best way to handle it is to do what Stankoven did often in Round 1 — score first.
“You score the first goal, you feel the confidence in the team and all the stuff,” Svechnikov said. “But they scored, last time, two goals, and it didn’t really matter. So at some point, you just kind of play every shift, every minute and try to play all 60 minutes.”
5. Last postseason, much was made of college star Ryan Leonard joining the Capitals for the stretch run and playoffs. Many considered the young winger an X factor for Washington in its second round series against the Hurricanes.
Leonard had one assist in the Capitals’ five-game Round 1 win over the Canadiens and was without a point in three games — he was scratched in Games 2 and 3 — against Carolina.
Enter Porter Martone. The Flyers rookie, fresh out of Michigan State, made his first career NHL goal an overtime winner against the Bruins on April 5 and helped Philadelphia earn a playoff berth with four goals and 10 points in his first 10 career games.
His postseason start was equally encouraging. He scored in the first two games of Philadelphia’s series with the rival Penguins and had an assist in Game 3 — all wins. He’s since, however, been held without a point in his last five games, including two straight against the Hurricanes in this series. He’s had one shot on goal in Round 2 against Carolina.
Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said Thursday morning that Martone is learning on the fly.
“For me, and I probably say it a lot — too much sometimes — you’ve got to move your feet,” Tocchet said. “I think for him, he’s looking to be the sniper, which is great. But you’ve got to get to these areas quicker. But I thought he was better last game.”
Brind’Amour shares an alma mater and career path with Martone. Both were Spartans who jumped to the NHL late in the season and then went headfirst into the playoffs.
Brind’Amour scored on his first career regular season and playoff shots. In the 1989 postseason, he had goals in his first two games — both wins — before being held off the score sheet in the remaining three in which he played.
Brind’Amour said the jump to the NCAA was actually tougher for him than moving on to the NHL, something he believes Martone is realizing now.
“The jump that I made and he’s made from college to the NHL was not as hard as the jump I made from playing Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League to college hockey,” Brind’Amour said. “And so I think maybe that’s what he’s even noticing.
“It was like, ‘I can make these plays.’ You think, ‘Now I’m taking that next big step,’ that it’s going to be that much harder. And it is in a different way. But you see with him, I think he just stepped right in and was like, ‘I was a good player here, and now I’m going to be a good player here,’ and the game translates. And maybe it’s saying something about the college hockey game more than anything.”
