“Being ready” has been a hallmark of Carolina’s game this postseason — their franchise-record-tying seven-game winning streak proves as much. But as good as the Canes have been, a bounce here or there could have wrought a different fate in any of their victories thus far.
That fact has kept them humble through their torrid start.
“For me, it’s pretty simple. Look at yesterday’s game, and the second game. We could have been down 3-0 after 15 minutes. After the first period, Freddie was able to make some good saves, and they hit some posts and a crossbar. That shows that they’re ready to go and it can happen pretty quick. But, they didn’t score, and we were able to stay in the game, get some goals, and win in the end,” said Nikolaj Ehlers.
“You want some adversity in the playoffs,” he continued. “I’m not saying I want to lose a game, but adversity is good. It gives you something to bounce back on, and I think we’ve shown that throughout the games here, or especially the last two.”
Adversity can come in several forms. Sometimes it shows up on the scoreboard, as was the case when Carolina climbed out of a two-goal hole to the Flyers in game two. Other times, it manifests in heightened physicality, which threatened to give the Senators late life in Round 1 before the Canes snuffed their spark.
The Flyers will certainly be hoping for a repeat of the former, but given the way Game 3 ended, there’s a real chance the latter is rehashed, too, as they face a do-or-die duel on home ice on Saturday.
If so, the battle-tested Canes will be ready.
“It’s been great to see how we respond to certain things. I think it’s big this time of year,” said Aho. “You don’t need to be running around and doing anything stupid or taking penalties, but there’s always moments where you don’t want to take steps back. I think we’ve done a good job of it.”