The Canes had 13 more shots on net, but the Panthers made them pay for every mistake.
A rematch of the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals started off just how they left off — a Florida Panthers victory.
Florida, two days removed from eliminating the Toronto Maple Leafs in their second-round series, dissected the Carolina Hurricanes in a 5-2 win in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Carter Verhaeghe and Aaron Ekblad scored twice in the opening period to set the tone, and Sergei Bobrovsky remained impressive between the pipes, stopping 31 of 33 shots.
It was a showcase for the Panthers’ depth. A.J. Greer, Sam Bennett, and Eetu Luostarinen punched in the final goal for Florida.
Sebastian Aho and Jackson Blake scored for Carolina. Frederik Andersen stopped 15 of 20 shots.
First Period
It was an intense game from the start.
Just over five minutes into the game, Sam Bennett was sent to the box for hooking Jaccob Slavin. While Carolina was on the power play, Aho made a smart shot from the slot that was saved by Bobrovsky. However, after the whistle, Aho got into it with Anton Lundell, who cross-checked him, but the officials caught the tail-end of the exchange when Aho attempted to grab Lundell by the helmet. Aho took the bait and ended up in the box for a two-minute roughing penalty, which incensed the crowd.
The Panthers struck first on the power play when Verhaege found the back of the net on a beautiful backhander that beat Andersen 8:30 into the game. The sequence started when Tkachuk had possession of the puck just behind the net and he passed the puck to Barkov, who fed Verhaeghe in front of the net. From there, Verhaeghe went from forehand to backhand and sent it top shelf.
Ekblad made it a 2-0 game after Jordan Staal attempted to stick handle and lost control of the puck in his own zone. Evan Rodrigues scooped up the loose puck and found Ekblad, who snapped a shot from the left circle through the screen and into the net.
Gustav Forsling was particularly impressive for the Panthers in the opening period, landing bone-crushing checks, and making excellent heads-up plays with the stick, taking away an opportunity from Shayne Gostisbehere.
Second Period
Greer scored 3:33 into the second period when Niko Mikkola set him up for a beautiful cross-crease goal to put the Panthers up 3-1.
Nearly 8:00 into the period, Carolina had a massive opportunity when Taylor Hall came through the blue paint and knocked Bobrovsky’s stick loose. Jack Roslovic teed up a shot but Bobrovsky was still able to make the save despite not having his stick.
With 8:30 left in the second, Forsling was sent to the box for cross-checking Svechnikov in the back to put the Canes on the man-advantage.
Despite a myriad of chances, Carolina was unable to convert on the power play. However, they dominated the rest of the period with nine unanswered shots on net. Unfortunately, it didn’t translate to any goals. With 40 seconds left in the frame, Walker fired a shot from the point, but Bobrovsky came up with the save.
Third Period
Entering this game, the Panthers had won 27 consecutive playoff games when leading after two periods.
A couple of failed clears by Florida allowed Carolina to crash the net early in the third. Aho had a chance to get the Canes within a goal, but Bobrovsky made the save and covered up the puck for the whistle.
Rodrigues made a beautiful effort roughly 3:30 into the period when he fired a puck toward Reinhart’s stick in the slot looking for the deflection, but the shot redirected off the blade and hit Andersen in the mask.
However, Scott Morrow gave Florida a gift when he lobbed the puck out of play from his defensive zone for a delay of game penalty.
Florida went shotless for 15 minutes, but their very next shot was a goal, when Sam Bennett snapped a sizzler from the point through traffic to beat Andersen. It was Florida’s second power play goal of the night on three attempts as the Panthers took a commanding 4-1 lead.
The Canes had only allowed two power play goals in 10 postseason games entering this matchup. However, they allowed the same amount in one game against the reigning Stanley Cup champions.
With 11:45 left in the game, Marchand and Gostisbehere dropped the gloves after Gostisbehere purposefully shot the puck at him and the two engaged in a quick tussle before Marchand took him down to the ice. The officials handed Marchand a four-minute minor for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct, and Gostisbehere was issued a two-minute minor. He spent a part of his penalty on the bench rather than the penalty box so his trainer could plug his nose up with gauze after Marchand bloodied him.
Luostarinen, a former Cane, put the game out of reach when he one-timed a pass from Tomáš Nosek, who was behind the net, from low in the left circle to make it a 5-1 game.
After Jonah Gadjovich was penalized for roughing up Morrow, Blake scored on the power play at 16:19, tapping in a pass from Seth Jarvis at the top of the crease.
Carolina pulled Andersen with 2:55 to go, but it didn’t matter either way. The game was long over in this 5-2 Panthers victory.
Takeaways
Carolina has now lost 13 consecutive games in a conference final, going back to being swept in 2009, 2019, and 2023. The last time the Hurricanes won in a conference final, head coach Rod Brind’Amour was still playing.
Carolina beat themselves in this game. They had 13 more shots on net, but still lost by three goals. As previously stated, at one point, Florida was held without a shot for 15 minutes. During that run, the Canes failed to score, but the Panthers’ next shot was a goal. They made way too many mistakes with their puck in their own zone and that led to the result we saw tonight.
Upcoming
Game 2 is back at Carolina on Thursday night. Puck drop is at 6 p.m. local time.