Two NHL powerhouses are rewriting the playoff record books with their dominant performances this postseason.
Both the Carolina Hurricanes and Colorado Avalanche have maintained perfect records through their current playoff runs, showcasing the championship-caliber play that made them the league’s top regular season teams. These squads, whose weather-themed names match their destructive play on ice, have yet to taste defeat in this year’s postseason.
Carolina’s 4-1 victory over Philadelphia on Thursday night pushed their series lead to 3-0 and marked their seventh consecutive playoff triumph. This achievement places the Hurricanes among just 13 teams in NHL history to open a postseason with seven straight victories. Notably, eight of the previous 12 teams to accomplish this feat went on to capture the Stanley Cup.
The Hurricanes will rely on red-hot netminder Frederik Andersen in Saturday’s Game 4 as they attempt to eliminate the Flyers. A victory would make Carolina only the fourth team since 1985 to begin the playoffs with an 8-0 record.
“I would anticipate we’re going to give it our best, because we’re going to need to,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We’re not going to win if we don’t put our best foot forward.”
While only three NHL teams have ever rallied from a 3-0 series deficit to win, many clubs have managed to extend their series to at least five games.
“The fourth one is the hardest one to win. No one wants to go home,” Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal said. “It’s going to be a brand-new challenge.”
In the Western Conference, Colorado sits just one victory away from matching Carolina’s historic start. The Avalanche have already lit up Minnesota for 14 goals in their semifinal matchup and could join the Hurricanes at 7-0 with a Game 3 victory Saturday night. The NHL scheduled a three-day break between games to align all four ongoing series.
“For our team, the energy and pace that we want to play with on a nightly basis that helps us have success, it doesn’t hurt,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “It doesn’t hurt to be rested and recovered and still get a little practice time in to go out and feel good about your puck touches and your systems and everything. Meetings don’t have to get crammed in. You can take your time and get feedback from the guys.”
Under Brind’Amour’s leadership, Carolina has reached the playoffs in all eight seasons. Last year’s Eastern Conference finals loss to eventual champion Florida serves as motivation for this year’s run. Should the Hurricanes defeat Philadelphia on Saturday, they would tie for the 10th-longest winning streak in a single NHL postseason. Historical data shows that 18 of the 23 teams to win eight or more consecutive playoff games in one year claimed the Stanley Cup.
The 1992 Chicago Blackhawks stand as a cautionary tale, however. They matched the all-time record with 11 straight playoff wins but fell short of the championship. That same spring, the Pittsburgh Penguins also reached 11 consecutive victories while completing their Stanley Cup Final sweep.
Colorado hopes to mirror Carolina’s ability to silence hostile crowds, as the Hurricanes demonstrated in their Game 3 road victory in Philadelphia. Minnesota hasn’t hosted a playoff game this deep into the postseason since 2015.
“It will be a rockin’ environment,” Avalanche goalie Scott Wedgewood said. “That’s what makes playoff so fun, right?”
Philadelphia faces elimination Saturday at 6 p.m. EDT, with coverage on TNT, truTV, and HBO Max. The Flyers have managed only three goals across three games against Carolina’s suffocating defensive system. Their regular season struggles on the power play continue, converting just once in 12 opportunities this series and three times in 29 chances over nine playoff contests.
The Colorado-Minnesota series resumes Saturday at 9 p.m. EDT on the same networks, with the Avalanche holding a 2-0 advantage. Minnesota has used the extended break to address penalty kill issues, particularly challenging given injuries to center Joel Eriksson Ek and defenseman Jonas Brodin. After controlling play at even strength against Dallas in round one, the Wild have struggled to contain Colorado’s explosive forwards in 5-on-5 situations. Minnesota may turn back to rookie goaltender Jesper Wallstedt after Filip Gustavsson’s 5-2 loss in Game 2.
