The Hurricanes fought for their lives, but the Panthers chewed them up one last time to end their season in Game 5.
The third time was the charm.
Carter Verhaeghe scored the go-ahead goal off a feed from Aleksander Barkov with 7:39 left, and the reigning champion Florida Panthers advanced to their third straight Stanley Cup Final, defeating the Carolina Hurricanes 5-3 on Wednesday night in Game 5 from Lenovo Center.
Verhaeghe, who has scored 32 goals in 86 career playoff games, now has three series-clinching goals with the Panthers.
With the win, Florida also became the ninth franchise in NHL history to advance to their third straight Stanley Cup Final and the first since the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2022. However, unlike the Lightning, the Panthers plan on winning it again.
Florida will take on the winner of the Western Conference Final between Dallas and Edmonton, with the Oilers up 3-1 in that best-of-seven series to put them within a win of a rematch against the Panthers from last year’s championship. Should the Oilers win, it will be the first time the same two teams from the previous Stanley Cup Final met again the following season. This last happened in 2009, when the Pittsburgh Penguins got revenge over the Detroit Red Wings in seven games in a classic battle that came down to the final whistle.
Sam Bennett added an empty-net goal with 54 seconds left in a wild sequence to silence the crowd and send them to the golf course.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 20 saves in a game that changed momentum at several points in the game.
Sebastian Aho scored twice for Carolina, and Seth Jarvis also found the net. Frederik Andersen made 17 saves.
First Period
Carolina crashed the net from the start and put heavy pressure on their opposition. It paid off just 4:39 into the game when Sebastian Aho forced a turnover and, went on a breakaway and scored when his wrist shot bounced off the bottom portion of Bobrovsky’s glove and into the net to give the Canes a 1-0 lead.
Brad Marchand attempted to get the equalizer for the Panthers, but he was robbed by an Andersen glove save.
Things got testy with 11:29 left in the period when a brouhaha erupted by the Carolina goal. Alexander Nikishin took Nate Schmidt’s helmet off in their little tussle, which earned him a roughing penalty. Canes’ coach, Rod Brind’Amour, was not happy about the call and angrily called out the refs from the bench.
Florida went back on the power play with 8:39 to go when William Carrier cross-checked Eetu Luostarinen up high and broke his stick during the process. Upon looking at the replay, it appeared to be a complete accident, albeit still a penalty. Both players were about to collide, and Carrier raised his stick to protect himself but ended up catching Luostarinen in the face. Accident or not, it’s still a penalty. Florida failed to convert on both power plays and failed to record a shot on the second opportunity.
Old friend A.J. Greer went to the box for interference with 4:56 left in the first when he checked Andrei Svechnikov from behind after taking exception to some of the latter’s tactics. However, the officials only noticed Greer hitting a man without the puck. As a result, an interference call was made.
With about 13 seconds left on the initial power play, Svechnikov and Aaron Ekblad exchanged slashes after the whistle. Both men were penalized, although Ekblad was sent to the sin bin for roughing. Svechnikov’s slash to the back of Ekblad’s leg sent him down, which was enough to earn him a trip to the box.
With nearly a minute remaining in the period, Niko Mikkola turned over the puck in the neutral zone, and Aho scooped up the loose puck and fired it under Bobrovsky’s right blocker to give Carolina a two-goal lead.
Second Period
Both teams jockeyed for position to start the second frame, but the Canes still appeared to be the fresher team. Just over five minutes into the period, Seth Jones was sent to the box for holding Jarvis while he was penetrating the defensive zone. When Jones committed the hold, Jarvis dropped his shoulder and went down, sending him crashing into Bobrovsky. Everyone emerged from the collision unscathed.
The Canes continued to pressure Bobrovsky when Burns one-timed a shot from the point that was saved. Moments later, Kotkaniemi was sent to the box when he bear-hugged Evan Rodrigues near the boards and proceeded to spin him around. The official call was holding. Florida scored on the power play when Ekblad snapped a shot from the slot through traffic that Matthew Tkachuk deflected in front of the net. The Panthers tied the game on the next play when Bennett fed Rodrigues in the slot for a beautiful re-direct that beat Andersen five-hole. And just like that, a two-goal deficit was erased in 30 seconds.
With 8:01 left in the second, it was deja vu against in front of the net. Carolina lost the draw, Aho lost sight of the puck, and Florida capitalized on the opportunity. Marchand threw the puck in front of the net, and Lundell tipped it from the slot to give Florida a 3-2 lead.
Florida got a penalty off the next draw when Carrier lunged into Dmitry Kulikov and got hit, but Kulikov was given an interference call. Carolina failed to convert on the power play and made just one shot on net.
Rodrigues put Carolina on the power play with 2:26 left in the period when he wrapped his arms around Dmitry Orlov and brought him down near the boards.
Third Period
The Panthers entered the final period with history on their side, having won 29 consecutive games when leading after the 2nd period.
Carrier put Florida on another power play when Carrier decided to audition for the WWE and, grabbed Lundell from behind and threw him down to the ice. The Canes, however, managed to kill off the penalty.
Carolina tied the game at three apiece when Florida turned over the puck in their defensive zone. The puck ended up in the hands of Jarvis, who snuck a shot by Bobrovsky from the right slot to nod the game up.
Verhaeghe scored the go-ahead goal when Barkov fed him a brilliant pass to the slot on the right edge of the net. Verhaeghe had to be perfect, and he hit nothing but net to give his team a 4-3 lead.
Bennett was penalized late for holding, but despite a furious charge from Carolina, Florida fended off the attack and dumped the puck just as Bennett exited the box. At the same time, the Canes had already pulled Andersen. Bennett scooped up the puck and put it into the empty net to make it 5-3.
Takeaways
The Panthers overcame some shaky moments to win it all again, and with one win in 17 Eastern Conference Final games, the Carolina Hurricanes will have to decide if they want to see “mour” of the same.
Bring on the rematch.