April 13, 2026

The Flyers made it: Philly clinches playoff spot with shootout win over Hurricanes

It took everything the Flyers had, and of course, one more shootout. But finally, this team has taken the leap back into the playoffs.

By Nick Tricome
PhillyVoice Staff

Trevor-Zegras-Goal-Flyer-Canes-4.13.26-NHL.jpg

Kyle Ross/Imagn Images

Trevor Zegras sent Xfinity Mobile Arena into a frenzy with his game-tying power-play goal.

The Flyers made it, in the most Philadelphia Flyers way possible.

They were down, then they rallied back. They were forced up against the wall, and then they swung back with every last ounce they had.

Matvei Michkov and Trevor Zegras, two of the skaters who were emblematic of this being a different team, a better team, rose to the moment with the two biggest goals of their careers.

Then it went to the shootout, because of course it did. But of course, Tyson Foerster, the homegrown piece of the core, scored the only goal they needed in it, while Dan Vladar stopped every last shot the Hurricanes had, standing up upon the last save with his arms held high, South Philadelphia roaring, and his teammates sprinting in to celebrate around him.

The Flyers beat the Hurricanes, 3-2, needing to take it to the very end Monday night at an electric Xfinity Mobile Arena. But in the end, they got those last two points they needed to clinch the 3-seed in the Metropolitan Division.

They're going to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, for the first time since the 2020 COVID bubble in Toronto, and for what will soon be the first postseason hockey games in Philadelphia since 2018, a whole other era ago.

There's just one more game left against Montreal on Tuesday night before the real fun finally begins against the rival Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round, and boy, did it take a long time, and a lot of stress, to finally make it back.

But here the Flyers are now, in the most Philadelphia Flyers way possible.

"It was all them," head coach Rick Tocchet said of how his players came through afterward. "Really proud of the way they stuck through this since training camp."

On a road that, for the first time in forever, won't be coming to a hard stop in mid-April.

TYSON FOERSTER SCORES, DAN VLADAR MAKES THE SAVE, AND THE PHILADELPHIA FLYERS ARE IN THE #STANLEYCUP PLAYOFFS 🤩 pic.twitter.com/NJA50KUJTK
— NHL (@NHL) April 14, 2026

The crowd, once again, showed up with energy Monday night that the Flyers tried to match.

Boos bellowed onto the ice as the refs and the Hurricanes took to it, and roars met the Flyers out of the tunnel and upon the announcement that Lauren Hart would be singing God Bless America instead of the anthem.

And from the opening draw, the Flyers dictated the tempo.

They were quick up the ice, they were physical, and they were doing well to control possession.

It was just the finish that was causing them problems – again.

Sean Couturier, flying on the fourth line, had a shot alone in front but fired wide. Owen Tippett, in full stride, burned through all the Carolina skaters end-to-end, but had his shot to the shortside corner knocked away by Brandon Bussi's blocker. Then Denver Barkey, on a break all alone, ran out of room trying to make one extra move, got another chance wheeling back around with the puck up high, throwing it back down to Noah Cates, who had his shot attempt from the right side blocked by a skater's shin pad.

At one point, eight minutes in, the Flyers were holding the shot advantage, 5-0, and the fans were engaged with every chance, waiting for the big break.

It's just that the Flyers got caught by the Hurricanes' own fast-paced style, even with Carolina rolling out a reserve-heavy lineup.

Nikolaj Ehlers chased after a puck dumped into the corner, and Rasmus Ristolainen drifted too far down toward him, leaving the front of the net unprotected for a pass to slip out straight to Bradly Nadeau, who loaded up a shot that rifled straight over Dan Vladar's shoulder for the 1-0 Carolina lead.

Textbook hockey from 27 and 29 👏 pic.twitter.com/PuZWSo9Gck
— y - Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) April 13, 2026

Then Christian Dvorak got tagged for holding Jackson Blake along the wall. Carolina set up on the power play, a pass ricocheted off Travis Sanheim's skate, and straight across the crease to Ehlers, and the winger banked the shot in off Vladar to put the Hurricanes up, 2-0.

Why not add a goal to Fly's assist? pic.twitter.com/hD4yuQctZB
— y - Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) April 13, 2026

The swing put the Flyers on the defensive as the first was winding down. Defenseman Nick Seeler moved across the ice to step in and block a point-blank shot to keep things from getting any worse, but as the seconds ticked away to end the frame, boos followed.

Philadelphia wasn't here to see the Flyers fall flat again, like they did last week against Detroit before getting on the road.

But then again, neither were Michkov or Zegras.

Coming back out for the second, Tippett made a rush toward the Carolina net that ended with him crashing into it on contact from the Hurricane checker trying to stop him. There was no penalty from it, or a goal, as Bussi's pads fell out from under him and the net went sliding off its moorings, but if anything, it told everyone that the Flyers were going to keep skating.

With the puck in the offensive zone and just shy of eight minutes elapsed, Noah Cates and Denver Barkey worked the puck along the rightside wall, and as it fell to Barkey's stick while he moved up toward the blue line, the rookie winger caught Michkov in his vision, sneaking down from the other side behind everyone.

Barkey delivered a pinpoint pass across the ice, Michkov took it in and took an extra second to pick his corner, then fired a shot straight by Bussi to get the Flyers on the board, the crowd, finally, on its feet.

The Flyers were still down 2-1, but they had life, and fans that were rallying off of them.

Michkov gets the Flyers on the board. pic.twitter.com/HcSfKjk8tp
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) April 14, 2026

As the crowd was roaring, the Flyers were back behind the Carolina net battling for the puck. Zegras skated in and made a couple at Hurricanes defenseman Sean Walker trying to free it. Walker responded by turning around to pull Zegras' helmet it off, which immediately had the ref throw his arm up for the delayed roughing penalty while the fans worked themselves up into an even greater frenzy.

Then Zegras came back down the ice with the power play in its final seconds. The puck rolled around to star rookie Porter Martone in the left corner, and all four Hurricanes drew to him, leaving Zegras all alone by the right post and a pass that Martone threaded directly to him through the open lane across the crease.

Zegras shuffled further out in front to get a better angle, slipped a shot right under Bussi's pads to the back of the net, and let out a yell as he took off toward the boards to celebrate before the refs could even register what happened.

Xfinity Mobile Arena was on its feet again, and at the loudest it had been in years. The Flyers were tied, 2-2, had the momentum back, and heading toward the third period, they had everything to gain right there in front of them.

"The fans were unbelievable tonight," Zegras said in the locker room postgame, with the realization still seeming to set in. "Like, that was the coolest thing I've ever seen."

TREVOR ZEGRAS TIES THE GAME! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/H0U92h6p9R
— NHL (@NHL) April 14, 2026

But a lot of back and forth, a four-minute high stick to the Hurricanes that was waved off after a review deemed that Barkey was hit by an errant elbow instead, and possession of the puck where, turn after turn, the Flyers refused to let it leave the Carolina zone, all still left them looking for that last break.

So did the instances that quickly followed, where Vladar had to make a few more big saves down the other way to hold it together, and after a prime power play setup from an Ehlers slash on Tippett continued to leave Philly coming up empty.

The minutes ticked away and turned into seconds. The air got tenser, overtime became inevitable, and after a game of cat and mouse that yielded a couple more big chances matched by even bigger saves from Vladar and Bussi both, so did the shootout.

It took Foerster to get that last shot to the back of the net, and Vladar to make that last with the pad on Carolina's Alexander Nishkin to bring on the long-awaited party, and a much-needed sigh of relief.

But then again, was there any other way for the Flyers to do it?

"The reaction when [Foerster] scored in the shootout, I'll never forget that," Zegras said.