By: Chris Nosek

The Hurricanes and Flyers faced off four times in the regular season. Three of the games went to a shootout, while the fourth was decided in overtime. The Hurricanes won three of the four games and outscored the Flyers 13 to 11 during the regular season series. Vladar earned two of the starts and played very well, allowing just four goals between regulation and overtime.

This should be a fun series to watch as these two teams battle for what should be an extremely close series. The Flyers will want to keep this a series of close, extremely physical games. However, the Hurricanes are more than capable of matching the Flyers in every way. The Hurricanes have the advantage as the home team and as the team with much more playoff experience. However, the Flyers will have gained significant confidence after their series against the Penguins.

I would expect this to be an extremely physical series with a lot of scrums after the whistles. Both teams will be willing to engage in such physicality. The Flyers absolutely need to figure out how to generate on their power play to be effective in this type of game. They will be able to score goals, especially if Frederik Andersen comes back to earth in goal. Carolina has had a week off, so questions about rust in the first game certainly exist, and the Flyers will need to test Andersen early and often. They need to expect a tough time doing this because Carolina is such a good team defensively. Ultimately, I believe the Hurricanes will spell the end of the Flyers’ great run, but I certainly expect solid pushback from Philadelphia in each game and throughout the series. The Flyers are buying into Rick Tocchet’s coaching, and that could help them take multiple games in this series.

Prediction: Carolina Hurricanes advance in 6 games