Recap: Canes shut out Panthers to stave off elimination, end 15-game ECF losing streak

It’s finally over, but there’s still three more games to win for the Hurricanes.

The Carolina Hurricanes have finally won an Eastern Conference Final game.

The triumph ended the Hurricanes’ 15-game Eastern Conference Final losing streak, which dated back to 2009.

Carolina’s last win in the ECF came on June 1, 2006, in Game 7 against the Buffalo Sabres when then-captain Rod Brind’Amour scored the game-winner to send the Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup Final, which they won over the Edmonton Oilers.

The Hurricanes were swept in three consecutive trips to the conference finals – by the Penguins in 2009, the Bruins in 2019, and the Panthers in 2023 – before losing the first three games against Florida this year.

But when it was announced that the Panthers would miss three key players from the lineup Monday night, many thought it was the best chance for the Canes to end this dreaded curse.

And indeed it was. The Hurricanes shut out the Panthers 3-0 to stave off elimination and postpone Florida’s bid for their third straight Stanley Cup Final appearance. Logan Stankoven scored the game-winner midway through the second period. Sebastian Aho and Jordan Staal added empty-netters to close the show. And Fredrik Andersen, who was benched in Game 3 following back-to-back poor showings, came back strong with a 20-save shutout.

Sergei Bobrovsky took the loss despite stopping 25 of 26 shots for Florida.

First Period

Through the first eight minutes of play, both teams accumulated eight shots apiece. Carolina appeared to play like a team that had something to prove, which is definitely a good thing in an elimination game.

With 8:03 left in the first, Jackson Blake was given a two-minute minor for slashing Barkov. However, it didn’t appear like a penalty was warranted.

Most of the period was evenly matched, but the Canes had better chances in close quarters. Logan Stankoven, in particular, had several juicy chances. However, he fumbled on both of them, turning over the puck deep in Florida’s defensive zone and completely missing the net on another opportunity.

Both teams were penalized with 2 minutes and 20 seconds left in the period. Blake was admonished for slashing Nate Schmidt on the hands, but after the whistle, Schmidt shoved Blake and earned himself a roughing penalty, albeit it appeared that Blake also embellished the impact.

At the end of 20 minutes, we remained scoreless.

Second Period

The start of the second period was a war zone, more or less. Both teams delivered bone-crushing checks. Carolina’s Brent Burns also ripped a shot from the point that created a rebound, but when William Carrier attempted to get his stick on it, he was taken down by Aaron Ekblad.

Just over three minutes into the period, Seth Jones was whistled for hooking Sebastian Aho to give the Canes their first power play of the game.

Immediately after killing the penalty, Jordan Staal was called for hooking Matthew Tkachuk. Still, the latter was also punished for embellishment, which also appeared to be a questionable call at best.

Stankoven gave Carolina their first lead of the series with nine 15 left in the second after Florida turned the puck over in the neutral zone. Nikishin fed Stankoven on the left wing, and he drove it in, snapped a wrister over Bobrovsky’s blocker to make it a 1-0 game.

The Canes continued to control puck possession late in the period. With 3:34 to go, Orlov ripped a shot from the point that was stoned by Bobrovsky. And Carolina held a 21-11 advantage in shots on net.

Burns was sent to the box with 1:49 to go after he cross-checked Carter Verhaeghe while he was down against the boards. The penalty would extend into the third period, but only 11 seconds would remain on the power play.

Third Period

Carolina killed off the remainder of the penalty and went on the power play 20 seconds later when Dmitry Kulikov was docked for roughing up Stankoven.

Just over four minutes into the period, Brad Marchand set up Anton Lindell for an opportunity. And as Lindell closed in on Andersen, Alexander Nikishin slashed him in the arm to put Florida on a critical man advantage. 8:34 into the frame, Stankoven was sent to the box after he high-sticked Luostarinen off the draw. Carolina continued to play great defensively and killed off both penalties.

Florida pulled Bobrovsky with under three minutes left in the period, but Aho scored on the empty net to put the game away. Staal added a second empty-netter with 1:45 to go to make it 3-0 Carolina.

Takeaways

Well, hey. The simulation is on a winning streak! We kid, we kid. This is exactly what Carolina needed to do tonight, and they got the job done. Florida was missing Sean Reinhart, Niko Mikkola, and A.J. Greer, but they still produced a lot of chances. The Canes played great defensive hockey tonight.

Next Game

Game 5 comes back to Carolina on Wednesday. Puck drop is at 6 p.m. local time from the Lenovo Center.