Round 2 kicks off tonight… even though we’re not done with Round 1. We’ll wait on the rest of the officials who are moving on, but we know these four are moving on — they’re working Flyers vs. Hurricanes Game 1 tonight:
Philadelphia Flyers at Carolina Hurricanes
Game 1 – 8:00 PM ET
REFEREES |
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Kelly Sutherland #11 |
TJ Luxmore #21 |
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| Games ’25-26 (RS/PO) | 76 / 3 | 76 / 4 | ||||
| Career Games (RS/PO) | 1680 / 255 | 803 / 41 | ||||
| First NHL Game | 12/19/00 | 11/19/13 | ||||
| First Playoff Game | 4/9/03 | 8/2/20 | ||||
| Birthplace | Richmond, BC | Timmins, ON | ||||
| Goals/Gm | 6.0 (28) | 5.9 (28) | 6.0 (27) | 5.9 (26) | ||||
| PP Opp/Gm | 5.7 (21) | 5.4 (18) | 5.8 (16) | 4.8 (43) | ||||
| PPG/Gm | 1.2 (24) | 1.0 (40) | 1.3 (15) | 0.9 (43) | ||||
| Penl/Gm | 8.1 (3) | 6.8 (20) | 7.6 (14) | 6.2 (39) | ||||
| PIM/Gm | 21.1 (2) | 6.8 (21) | 19.1 (10) | 14.6 (38) | ||||
| % of Penl on Home | 49.7% (7) | 50.0% (9) | 50.7% (3) | 50.0% (19) | ||||
| % PP Opp for Home | 48.8% (36) | 50.0% (34) | 48.1% (37) | 50.0% (18) | ||||
| Penl Diff.* | 1.2 (29) | 1.2 (27) | 1.3 (22) | 1.4 (11) | ||||
| Home Win % | 64% (8) | 60% (27) | 56% (25) | 62% (23) | ||||
| Home Rec. | 44-24-7 | 42-27-5 | 34-27-9 | 42-26-6 | ||||
| OT/SO Games | 21.3% (30) | 10.0% (39) | 28.9% (9) | 20.0% (26) | ||||
| Team Records | 25-26 | 24-25 | 23-24 | 25-26 | 24-25 | 23-24 |
| PHI | 2-3-1 | 0-5-0 | 1-5-0 | 2-0-1 | 1-3-0 | 3-0-2 |
| CAR | 4-0-0 | 4-2-0 | 3-1-0 | 2-2-1 | 3-2-1 | 4-3-0 |
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Devin Berg #87 |
James Tobias #61 |
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| Games ’25-26 (RS/PO) | 76 / 4 | 78 / 4 | ||||
| Career Games (RS/PO) | 746 / 93 | 551 / 25 | ||||
| First NHL Game | 10/15/15 | 11/22/17 | ||||
| First Playoff Game | 4/11/18 | 4/17/23 | ||||
| Birthplace | Kitchener, ON | Buffalo, NY | ||||
Refs Kelly Sutherland and TJ Luxmore are paired up for the first time this postseason; the duo worked two games together in the regular season.
Sutherland worked with Corey Syvret in Round 1, handling UTA/VGK Game 2, LAK/COL Game 3, and BOS/BUF Game 5.
Luxmore skated alongside Trevor Hanson at UTA/VGK Game 1, LAK/COL Game 2, BOS/BUF Game 4, and MIN/DAL Game 5.
The NHL officials selected to work the opening round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs:
Games: PS (Preseason); RS (Regular Season); PO (Playoffs)
Stats/Numbers: ’25-26 avg. (’25-26 rank) | ’24-25 avg. (’24-25 rank)
Number in orange/parentheses indicated referee’s rank among active officials.
* Penalty Differential represents the absolute value of the variance of penalty calls by team per game. If Team A takes two more penalties (or two fewer) than Team B, this is a 2. Lower numbers indicate less variance between total penalties in a game – that is, a closer number of calls for both teams.
We’ve also got new rules, new refs, promoted officials, and an updated pronunciation guide for 2025-26.
