PHILADELPHIA — The Hurricanes have spent most of the postseason suffocating the opposition. In Thursday’s Game 3, they let their special teams do the work.
Jalen Chatfield scored the go-ahead shorthanded goal late in the second period, and Carolina converted twice on the power play in a 4-1 win over the Flyers in Game 3 of their second round series to take a commanding 3-0 series lead.
“Just like last series, we’ve got to answer the bell and finish it off,” defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere said of being a win away from advancing to the Eastern Conference final. “The fourth one’s the hardest one to win.”
The Hurricanes led the league in shorthanded goals during the regular season, and they got their first of the playoffs at an opportune time.
Chatfield gave the Hurricanes the lead for good at 15:59 of the second period.
With Taylor Hall in the penalty box for a boarding penalty that was initially called a major and downgraded to a minor, Carolina winger Jordan Martinook lunged to push the puck out of the defensive zone after a faceoff.
Jordan Staal sprinted out to get it, and Chatfield joined him for a 2-on-1.
“He got on his motor,” Staal said of Chatfield jumping into the rush, “and the bench was yelling at me that it was two. I didn’t see him, but the bench let me know.”
Staal backhanded a pass through Trevor Zegras’ legs, and Chatfield one-timed the puck past Dan Vladar (26 saves) to give Carolina a 2-1 lead.
“I jumped up, and it was an unbelievable pass,” said Chatfield, who scored his third career playoff goal and first of this postseason. “I just had to shoot the puck, that’s it.”
The Hurricanes’ penalty kill went 5 for 5 on the night to improve to 35 of 37 (94.6%) in the postseason.
“It’s been good, certainly in the playoffs here,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said of his penalty kill. “I think it’s just a lot of sacrifice. Guys are obviously working extremely hard, and we’ve been in sync. We have good players, and they know what they’re doing out there.”
While the penalty kill lived up to the standard it set all postseason, the power play finally came to life.
The Flyers came out of the gate with energy and created several odd-man chances, but goalie Frederik Andersen (18 saves) kept Philadelphia from getting on the board first.
After Carolina killed the Flyers’ first power play without allowing a shot, the Hurricanes got their first opportunity and converted.
With Sean Couturier in the box for tripping, the Hurricanes’ top unit kept the puck in the Philadelphia zone for nearly a minute, and Andrei Svechnikov’s shot from the left circle hit Flyers defenseman Travis Samheim’s leg, went off the boards and kicked to the left of Vladar.
Staal swiped at the puck and knocked it into the net for his first goal of the postseason and a 1-0 lead at 17:27 of the opening period.
After the Flyers tied the game early in the second period when Zegras scored on a delayed penalty and Chatfield’s shorthanded goal put Carolina back ahead, the Hurricanes’ power play came through again.
A parade to the penalty box in the third period — 14 penalties totaling 36 minutes were called during the final frame — resulted in Carolina getting a 4-on-3 power play.
The Hurricanes used the extra space to their advantage.
Sebastian Aho zipped a seam pass to Svechnikov in the right circle, but the puck was in Svechnikov’s feet. He collected the puck and reset the power play. When the puck returned to Aho, the pass was available again, and this time Svechnikov uncorked a one-timer past Vladar at 3:52 of the third for his first goal of the playoffs and a 3-1 lead.
Svechnikov said he had a similar shot on an earlier power play but missed the net. The third time was the charm.
“You’ve got to be a little patient but focus a little bit more on the puck and try to shoot as quick as you can,” Svechnikov said.
Nikolaj Ehlers delivered the dagger just over three minutes later, getting behind the Flyers defense to retrieve a puck Martinook had swatted forward off a high flip for a breakaway and goal at 7:08.
“I guessed right which side he was on,” Martinook said of knocking the puck up ahead to Ehlers. “I kind of saw him coming and I just whacked at it, and it was nice to get him in stride.”
The Flyers, frustrated and facing a 3-0 series hole, turned to rough stuff — at one point, both goalies left their creases and inched toward each other before being guided away by the officials — but Carolina was mostly content to run out the clock while sticking up for each other when necessary in the final minutes.
“It is what it is,” said Gostisbehere, whose night ended with his first points of the playoffs — two assists — and a body slam of the much larger Rasmus Ristolainen in the game’s final minute.
Now it’s desperation time for the Flyers, who — like the Senators before them — sit in a 3-0 series hole with Saturday’s Game 4 as a must-win to continue their season.
The Hurricanes, meanwhile, are a win away from being one of the final four teams for the third time in four seasons and on the cusp of being perfect through two rounds.
“I would anticipate we’re going to give it our best, because we’re going to need to,” Brind’Amour said. “We know that. That’s the thing — the guys understand we’re not going to win if we don’t put our best foot forward.”
Notes: Chatfield finished with a team-high five shots on goal, matching a career high. … The Hurricanes finished 2 for 9 on the power play. … Andersen lowered his postseason goals-against average to a league-best 1.02 and his .957 save percentage is also tops in the NHL. … Ehlers scored for the second straight game after not scoring in the first five playoff games. … Forwards Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Nicolas Deslauriers, defenseman Mike Reilly and goalie Pyotr Kochetkov were healthy scratches for Carolina.
