The Philadelphia Flyers are one more loss away from being eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs. On Thursday night, the Flyers returned home to take on the Carolina Hurricanes, hoping home ice would gie them some momentum. Instead, the Flyers lost 4-1, putting them at a 0-3 deficit.
During the game, there was a play that had Flyers fans up in arms. In the second period, defenseman Travis Sanheim was crushed head first into the boards by Hurricanes forward Taylor Hall after he fell to a knee. While Hall was initially given a five-minute major penalty, the referees changed it to a two-minute minor penalty.
Taylor Hall received a two-minute minor for boarding on this hit on Travis Sanheim pic.twitter.com/O1XsjVQRVM
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 8, 2026
After the game, Sanheim detailed what he recalled on the hit from Hall, which he called "a pretty dirty play."
"I was just trying to make a play on the puck," Sanheim said, h/t ESPN's Greg Wyshynski. "I fell to one knee and was just trying to get it out, in a vulnerable spot. He decides to finish his check. It just felt like his hands drove my head right through the wall. I thought it was a pretty dirty play, but they obviously thought it was two minutes. It just felt like he could have laid off a little bit. He decided to put me right through the wall. I guess that's his decision."
Travis Sanheim calls out Taylor Hall for 'pretty dirty play'
The hit itself was bad enough. Unfortunately for the Flyers, they watched the Hurricanes score a short-handed goal. Jordan Martinook forced a takeaway after the face-off, passed it to Jordan Staal, who went on the breakaway. Stall then passed it to the other side of the net to Jalen Chatfield, who shot the puck past Dan Vladar to give the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead.
Hall had already been a thorn in the side of the Flyers. Let's not forget that he scored the game-winning goal in overtime in Game 2 to put the Flyers down 0-2 in the series. Game 2 the Flyers showed a ton of fight, but they couldn't do enough to get the win.
As for Game 3, the Flyers were back to being outmatched, as they were assessed nine penalties in the game, and Carolina capitalized on two of them. To make matters worse for Philadelphia, Carolina players were openly laughing at them during scrums, given that Game 3 was out of reach.
Game 3 2will be one that the Flyers would like to forget. The thing is, Game 4 could be worse if the team is officially eliminated on home ice. It's not over until it's over. Teams have overcome an 0-3 deficit in the Stanley Cup Playoffs before, but the way things have looked in this series, it appears the Flyers' season is hanging on by a thread.
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