Carolina Hurricanes sweep Flyers to maintain perfect playoff record

Jackson Blake scored in overtime as the Carolina Hurricanes completed a four-game sweep of the Philadelphia Flyers with a 3-2 victory to reach the Eastern Conference finals.

Head coach Rod Brind’Amour’s side now boast a flawless 8-0 record in this year’s postseason following their latest triumph in Pennsylvania.

The North Carolina franchise will face either the Montreal Canadiens or the Buffalo Sabres in the next round of the playoffs.

Stankoven strikes before late rally

The visitors dominated much of the contest, finishing regulation time with a commanding 36-15 advantage in shots on goal.

However, it was the hosts who stubbornly forced the game beyond 60 minutes when Alex Bump found the net with just over 14 minutes remaining.

Bump capitalised on a setup from Travis Konecny from behind the net, firing past Frederik Andersen to make it 2-2.

That equaliser came shortly after Logan Stankoven had put the away side ahead.

Stankoven finished a precise cross-ice pass from Taylor Hall for his seventh goal of the postseason.

Overturned goal and overtime drama

Earlier in the encounter, Blake had pulled his team level in the second period following a fortunate bounce off Philadelphia defenceman Jamie Drysdale.

The undefeated Eastern Conference contenders thought they had taken the lead moments later through Mark Jankowski.

However, Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet successfully challenged the play for goaltender interference against William Carrier to keep the score level.

Philadelphia almost snatched the lead late in the middle frame, but Christian Dvorak’s close-range effort struck the post.

Ultimately, the relentless pressure from the visitors proved too much, with Blake netting his second of the night just five minutes into the extra period to seal the series.