The Canes continue to get outclassed.
The Florida Panthers will push the Carolina Hurricanes to the brink of elimination Saturday night on home ice.
According to NHL 25, the reigning Stanley Cup Champions will have another easy night in the office. The simulation predicts Florida will win 4-1 over the Canes.
Matthew Tkachuk scored twice for the Panthers. Carter Verhaeghe and Mackie Samoskevich also scored for Florida. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 24 shots.
Jesper Fast scored the lone goal for the Hurricanes. Frederik Andersen made 37 saves in net for Carolina.
First Period
Reminiscent of the first two games, Florida took control from the opening draw. Six of the game’s first seven shots belonged to the Panthers.
Five minutes into the game, Florida went on their first power play when Jordan Martinook was whistled for holding Seth Jones against the boards.
After the Canes killed off the penalty, Evan Rodrigues was boxed for cross-checking, which gave them the opportunity with the man advantage. However, Carolina did the opposite of what you’re supposed to do on the power play, allow a goal.
Tkachuk scored a shorthanded goal to put Florida 1-0 with just over 12 minutes left to go in the first period. It all happened after the Panthers cleared the puck out of their own zone. Tomas Nosek sprinted all the way down the ice, beat two Carolina defensemen to the puck, and found Tkachuk in the slot for a sweet goal.
Following a defensive zone turnover by Brent Burns, Verhaeghe scooped up the puck and crashed the crease. After a quick pad save from Andersen, Verhaege quickly went to Plan B, picked up the loose rebound, and fired it into the goal from the left side of the net. It’s safe to say that Burns got burned.
With 3:58 remaining in the first, Tkachuk scored his second goal of the night to give the Panthers a 3-0 lead. Sam Reinhart found Tkachuk unprotected on the left circle, an area where he’s had success all game and didn’t miss. It was a beautiful snap shot that beat Andersen’s blocker and added another to their growing lead.
At the end of one, the Panthers held a 3-0 lead and outshot Carolina 17-8.
Second Period
The second frame was more competitive. Florida was still clearly the better squad, but Carolina continued to push forward. Burns unloaded a scintillating shot from the right circle, but it was stoned cold by Bobrovsky.
A defensive zone turnover by the Panthers opened up a huge opportunity for the Canes when Sebastian Aho fed Seth Jarvis a one-timer, but Bobrovsky made an unbelievable glove save.
On the next play, Carolina finally got on the board when Fast deflected a point shot from Sean Walker into the net. The timing couldn’t have been more impeccable as Fast took a big hit from Gustav Forsling just after making the shot.
Third Period
Disaster nearly struck to begin the third period when Bobrovsky exited the net to play the puck. He passed it to Dmitry Kulikov, but he mishandled it. Taylor Hall jumped on the chance and fired a quick wrist shot from the right circle, but Bobrovsky got back into the crease to make the save just in the nick of time.
The depth of the Panthers was on display yet again in the third when Samoskevich scored off a feed from Eetu Luostarinen in the slot to give his team a commanding 4-1 advantage. It was an impressive play from Luostarinen as he was being doubled-teamed and passed the puck to the only viable option. It paid off for both parties.
Takeaways
If the Canes get swept again in the Eastern Conference Finals, Rod Brind’Amour’s job has to be on the line, right? They have been utterly outclassed all series and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to get any better.
But hey, we’ll see if they can give real life a run for their money.
Puck drop is at 6 p.m. local time.