‘We’re Still Here and We’re Still Playing’: Hurricanes vs. Flyers Game 4 Preview

It doesn’t look good for the Philadelphia Flyers heading into Saturday’s Game 4 against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Flyers are down 3-0 in the Eastern Conference Second Round after Game 3’s disaster at home, losing 4-1. Without key players such as Owen Tippett, who will miss a fourth straight game, and Noah Cates, the Flyers’ weaknesses grew and were heavily exposed by the top-seeded Hurricanes.

These issues varied from the power play, speed difference, defensive efforts, and other aspects of the game in which the Flyers did not show much life, resulting in the Hurricanes taking full control by the third period. The Flyers face elimination in Game 4, but regardless, they still have hockey to play in Philadelphia.

Discipline Must Grow After Game 3

It’s no question that the officiating in Game 3 was questionable to say the least, but it’s also no excuse for the Flyers to lose themselves and take penalty after penalty as the game grew. Specifically, Flyers’ forward Christian Dvorak took three penalties in the last 30 minutes of the game, a time when the Flyers really could have taken a breath and had a plan.

At the 19:09 mark in the second period, and the 2:14 mark of the third, Dvorak took two roughing penalties against the Hurricanes, giving them a power play in the second and taking away a potential power play for the Flyers in the third period.

In total, the Flyers racked up 38 penalty minutes in a game that could have reeled them right back in. Again, officiating could have been a factor, but the Flyers still need to acknowledge the level of their discipline and what they need to do to grow back. It will definitely be interesting to see how the discipline and its factors change in Game 4.

Make or Break Game 4 for Konecny

Another big factor to look out for is the performance of Travis Konecny, who had another big miss in another disappointing game from the Flyers’ alternate captain. Konecny, who has a no-move clause on his contract until 2031 (no-trade for the remaining two years after), has scored two career playoff goals in 31 career playoff games. Konecny has led the Flyers in total points for the last five years and had peaked at 76 points in 2024-2025, so this is surprising.

This postseason, Konecny has played nine games and scored one goal with three assists in just under 19 minutes per game this postseason. With 26 penalty minutes and a rating of -1, no one could have guessed that this stat line belongs to Konecny. Konecny has not looked like himself at all these playoffs, especially after missing both a breakaway to start Game 3 of the post and an overtime breakaway with plenty of room and speed the game prior.

Game 4 is absolutely pivotal for Konecny, as it could determine how the Flyers will look at him in the near future. The Flyers won’t necessarily talk about trades, but they can look at whether he really deserves to play where and when he does. With Konecny ending Game 3 with a misconduct, he has all of the motives in the world, and it would be great to see him cash in in Game 4.

Don’t Play With Panic

Being down three games to none, it’s definitely a long shot to come back from, but by no means does that call anything over. All it means is that there is more work to do, and the Flyers certainly know this; they’ve known it all season.

From a 3.8 percent chance at the Stanley Cup Playoffs entirely, the Flyers took their game step by step with composure, and they lined themselves up for a first-round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins. They would win this series in six games despite no one giving them a chance, once again. As of now, down three games to none, most, if not all, have written off the Flyers after Game 3, which is not a problem at all for the Flyers. The Flyers do not care if only four teams have come back 3-0, or if no one is giving them a shot. They know they’ve been there before, and they know they’re in the moment.

“We have life. We have opportunity,” Trevor Zegras said on the mindset after Game 3. “We’re still here and we’re still playing.”

Dvorak, a Flyer who struggled all of this postseason and especially Thursday night, with an injury, does not want to worry in the locker room, just wants one hockey game.

“We just can’t worry about anything else other than winning one hockey game,” Dvorak claims. “We’re not going to quit.”

In a season where they had been written off more than once, hanging on for dear life in the playoff picture, they are no strangers to the situation of being down 3-0, and they are not going to let themselves get beaten. The Flyers don’t care what the hockey world says; they care about the locker room.

The Flyers will host the Canes for Game 4 on May 9, and can be viewed on TNT/TruTV.

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