A Chance to Even the Series: Flyers vs. Hurricanes Game 2 Preview

After being overwhelmed by the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 Saturday night, the Flyers are now down 1-0 in the Eastern Conference semifinals. They desperately need a rebound on Monday night, and although it isn’t an elimination game, it sure feels like it as it’ll be hard to recover if the Flyers do end up heading back to Philadelphia down 2-0 to the Eastern Conference’s best team. 

Carolina played fast, applied pressure right out of the gate, and outclassed the Flyers in every way possible. That’s not the type of game that Philadelphia can play again. If they want to leave Carolina feeling confident, they have to change their game.

Start Off On A Clean Note

The Flyers will need a much cleaner start in the opening period if they want to take advantage in Game 2. Carolina’s two goals in ten minutes practically won them the game, and the Flyers never rebounded after falling behind. They fell right into Carolina’s style of play, where they kept applying pressure, and the Flyers were stuck in a loop where the only way they could clear the puck was by icing it.

While the Flyers don’t have to do what the Canes did and jump out to a two-goal lead early, it would certainly be nice to see that, but they just need to have a much cleaner start on the ice. They need to manage the puck better and attack in the offensive zone. The Hurricanes showed they can already do that, and the Flyers can not get caught in that trap for the second straight game.

Special Teams Have To Matter

Philadelphia went 0-for-4 on the power play and only managed two shots on goal with the man advantage. Once again, the 32nd-ranked team in the NHL on the power play just looked flatter than it ever was. That’s going to be a problem for the Flyers if they can’t pick up the pace with the extra man. Carolina is a very good team on the penalty kill and has improved to 24-for-25 after Game 1. If the Flyers are going to get multiple chances like they did Saturday night, they are going to have to make them matter.

That doesn’t mean converting on all power plays they get, but they just need it to stop feeling empty. Just one power play goal can shift the momentum of the game right back to the Flyers, and that could be all they need to even out the series.

They’ll also have to stay consistent on the penalty kill, too. They did a good job on Saturday night, killing off all four Carolina power plays, and they’ll just have to keep that rolling into Game 2. 

READ MORE ON THE POWER PLAY:

Flyers’ Power Play Disappears in Game 1 Disappointment

Handle The Pressure and Win More Battles

The Flyers struggled to win faceoffs on Saturday night, and the Hurricanes showed them how small their margin for error is in this series. Poor decisions and a turnover that led to a goal were also a part of the Flyers’ mishaps on Saturday night.

“We know the way they play, but I think they were just hungrier than us,” Sean Couturier said.

“We didn’t win enough 1-on-1 battles; they won the 50-50 races, and that’s what happened. You give them a lot of momentum, and you’ve got to find a way to get it back.”

Against a team like the Hurricanes, that can spiral quickly if the Flyers aren’t on their A-game. The Flyers have to be better in the smaller areas. They need to win faceoffs, limit turnovers, and create more urgency. While they most likely won’t out-skill Carolina in a game, they can make it harder on them. That’s what the Penguins did for Games 4 and 5, and it worked in their favor.

Game 2 is scheduled for a 7:00 PM puck drop on Monday night and can be viewed on ESPN. 

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