Hurricanes join club only 12 other teams have reached as undefeated postseason continues

The Carolina Hurricanes could not have asked for a better start to the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

After defeating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference second-round series on Thursday night, the Canes are a perfect 7-0 in the postseason.

They swept the Ottawa Senators in Round 1, and are looking well-positioned to do the same to the Flyers after the convincing victory at Xfinity Mobile Arena in downtown Philly.

Carolina is just the 13th team in National Hockey League history to begin a postseason with seven consecutive wins, and the third in the last 30 years, joining the 2024 New York Rangers and 2008 Pittsburgh Penguins, per NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman.

The former ended up losing to the eventual champion Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference Final, while the latter was defeated by the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Final but ended up getting revenge the next season.

In 2026, the Hurricanes are looking like an absolute wagon, getting contributions from up and down the lineup. And Frederik Andersen has been sensational, leading the playoffs with a sparkling 1.02 goals-against average and .957 save percentage.

“It’s been a great start to the series,” said captain Jordan Staal, who scored a goal and added an assist on Thursday, per Kimelman. “We’ve played the way we’ve wanted to play. It’s part of our whole identity as a group and we want to continue to build on that.”

The Canes are now a single victory away from their second consecutive trip to the East Final, and third in four years. They finished in the top spot in the conference for the first time ever in the regular season.

“It’s just how we’ve been approaching every game since the start of the playoffs,” Staal continued. “It’s a brand new challenge. The fourth one is always the hardest to win, and no one wants to go home. It’s going to be another brand new challenge, brand new start and we’re going to have to find ways to win the game.”

Carolina will look to start the postseason 8-0 — and be the first team to advance to Round 3 — when puck drops in Philadelphia just past 6:00 p.m. ET on Saturday night.

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