RALEIGH, N.C. — The Philadelphia Flyers already figured that the pace of play would be a little bit different in their second-round playoff series against the Carolina Hurricanes, compared with their six-game first-round win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

They really know it now.

The Hurricanes were all over the Flyers from the drop of the puck in Saturday’s Game 1 at Lenovo Center, winning 3-0 in a game that wasn’t as close as the score. Carolina reeled off 11 of the first 12 shots on goal, including two that went in from Logan Stankoven (on the first shot of the game, a redirection) and Jackson Blake, and essentially cruised from there.

It never felt like the Flyers were in it.

“It’s (a) good baptism how some of our players are going to have to play, with some quickness and reactionary time,” coach Rick Tocchet said. “That’s how you have to play against this team.”

It’s difficult to imagine just one player could have made a difference. But the fact Flyers winger Owen Tippett — unquestionably their fastest player — was scratched drastically hurt their chances.

Tippett is banged up. Tocchet has already mentioned it a few times. The 27-year-old didn’t take part in Friday’s practice at the team training facility, but he did skate Saturday morning. He stayed out late with the other scratches, though, a clear indication that the Flyers had already ruled him out of Game 1.

When Tippett didn’t emerge for warmups, his unspecified injury was officially confirmed by the club. The Flyers are labeling him as day to day.

Considering how valuable Tippett was for the Flyers post-trade deadline as arguably their best forward, it’s a concerning development. Tippett could still be feeling the effects of an incident in the penultimate game of the regular season April 13, when the Flyers clinched their playoff spot in a 3-2 shootout win at home against the Hurricanes. Early in the second period, Tippett was driving to the net when he was checked by defenseman K’Andre Miller, sending him careening into the post. He briefly went up the tunnel before returning to what was a pivotal game.

Without Tippett on Saturday, the Flyers’ lackadaisical start was ultimately their undoing. Matvei Michkov’s egregious turnover in the defensive zone directly resulted in Stankoven’s redirection past Dan Vladar at 1:31, and Michkov was again caught flat-footed after Rasmus Ristolainen’s weak pinch led to a rush the other way that Blake squeezed through Vladar at 7:30 of the first. Travis Sanheim was also caught chasing the play.

“I don’t know if we were mentally prepared to play tonight,” Tocchet said. “I don’t know if we got down to earth quick enough (after the Penguins series) for this game. And that’s what happens. Your legs aren’t there.”

Said Sean Couturier: “We know the way they play. I think they were just hungrier than us. We didn’t win enough battles. They won the 50-50 races, and that’s what happens. We gave them a lot of momentum, and you’ve got to find a way to get it back.”

They had a chance to do that on the power play. Instead, it was brutal. The Flyers failed on three full two-minute power plays when they were still down just 2-0, wasting chances to potentially turn the game in their favor. They couldn’t even manage a shot over their first three advantages, while Carolina had three short-handed shots over that span. The Flyers finished 0-for-4 and are just 2-for-21 in the playoffs, with both goals coming in a Game 3 win against the Penguins.

“There’s plays to be made. You’ve got to make them,” Tocchet said. “You’ve got to play quick against this team.”

Noah Juulsen’s gift turnover late in the second ended with Stankoven’s second goal, set up by Seth Jarvis at 16:16. The 3-0 score might as well have been 10-0 at that point.

“We obviously have to raise our level of competitiveness,” Tocchet said. “I thought a lot of guys were on their heels tonight. … I don’t know if we really gave them anything to really worry about the first half of the game.”

Tippett’s absence forced Tocchet to alter his lines. Originally, Alex Bump went up to play with Trevor Zegras and Porter Martone, while Tyson Foerster began the game with Michkov and Noah Cates. By the second period, everything was in a blender, including Denver Barkey moving to center between Bump and Michkov.

The Flyers were marginally better in the second and third periods but still weren’t generating nearly enough. They had just nine shots on goal through two periods and managed 10 in the third when the Hurricanes were up by three and naturally sitting back a bit.

Tocchet spoke about putting his top nine in the proverbial blender.

“I just didn’t like our start, (the) matchups they were getting,” he said. “A couple guys were getting owned against some of their lines, and it’s 3-0.”

What Tocchet left unsaid was that two players who have struggled to play with enough pace at times this season — Michkov and Juulsen — committed errors that just can’t happen against a team such as Carolina. Michkov, who had zero shots on goal, reverted to how he looked in the first four games of the Penguins series before he was a healthy scratch in Game 5, while Juulsen, of course, is known much more for his physicality than his foot speed.

That raises the question of whether Tocchet could make any lineup changes for Monday’s Game 2. The club pondered putting rookie Oliver Bonk on defense late in the Penguins series before ultimately balking. Perhaps they will rethink that now.

If Tippett can play Game 2, it’s not out of the question that Michkov could come out again, particularly considering that the Flyers’ fourth line of Couturier, Luke Glendening and Garnet Hathaway had a decent night and was the only trio left together by Tocchet for the duration of the game.

Regardless, the Flyers probably need Tippett’s legs back sooner rather than later if they’re going to have any shot in this series. Even if he’s not 100 percent healthy, Tippett left his mark on the Penguins series. His 56.1 expected-goals percentage (per Natural Stat Trick) was tops on the Flyers among players who skated in at least five games. Tippett’s dazzling setup of Hathaway’s short-handed score in Game 2 was his primary highlight, but Tippett’s speed bursts in the early part of that series helped the Flyers back the Penguins off.

Backing off the Hurricanes is an entirely more challenging task. They may not be able to do it as currently constructed if Tippett is to miss more time.

“He’s a big part of our game,” Couturier said. “He’s big, fast, physical, great shot. That’s playoffs. Some guys go down, you need guys to step up. Tonight, we didn’t have that.”