Carolina Hurricanes Clinch the Eastern Conference First-Seed

There seems to be a theme of how the Carolina Hurricanes clinch points needed at the end of the 2025-26 regular season. As they did against the Boston Bruins, needing only a point to clinch the Metropolitan Division title, they secured the point needed against the Philadelphia Flyers to clinch another milestone.

After their 3-2 loss in the shootout on Monday night (April 13), the Hurricanes have secured the Eastern Conference first-seed heading into the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The East Runs Through Carolina

Heading into the game against the Flyers in the first half of a back-to-back to end the regular season, the Hurricanes only needed a point to claim the top spot in the Eastern Conference. After being up 2-0 after the first period, they saw their lead disappear in the second. However, the Hurricanes were able to hold on to secure the lone point to beat out the Buffalo Sabres to claim home-ice advantage through the Eastern side of the playoffs.

The two Hurricanes goals came from Bradly Nadeau, who scored his third goal of the season, and one from Nikolaj Ehlers on the power play for his 25th. His power-play goal gave the Hurricanes their 16th man-advantage goal in the last 14 games. It was also a multi-point night for Ehlers to help him get to 70 points for the first time, which puts him second all-time for points in his first season with the Hurricanes. It only trails Cory Stillman’s 76.

Despite seeing his five-game winning streak snapped, Brandon Bussi saved 18 of 20 for a .900 save percentage (SV%). Unless he plays on Tuesday night, he will finish his first NHL season with a 30-6-2 record. What a season it was for the 27-year-old netminder.

As of now, the Hurricanes are still waiting to see who they will face in the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. It will come down to either the Boston Bruins or the Ottawa Senators. If the Bruins get at least a point in their next game, the Hurricanes are going to face the Senators.

However it plays out, the Hurricanes were able to dig deep, with a ton of their regulars out of the lineup to get the one point they needed. They can officially say that the Eastern Conference will run through Raleigh during the playoffs after taking the top seed. Before the playoffs begin on April 18 and 19, they have one regular-season game left against the New York Islanders on Tuesday, April 14, on Long Island. Right now, it’s just staying healthy and getting ready for the playoffs. The Hurricanes sit at 52-22-7 on the season with 111 points and are the beasts of the East.