RALEIGH, N.C. — The horn blared signaling their third consecutive journey to the Stanley Cup Final, and the Florida Panthers marked the occasion simply by jumping over the boards with many of them going over to greet goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.
It felt like a modest victory party, more appropriate for a typical season game rather than a championship one for the reigning cup winners.
“A few years back, it seemed like a huge achievement considering how far we’ve come,” stated forward Matthew Tkachuk, continuing, “We’re focused solely on our objectives and have even greater aspirations ahead of us.”
On Wednesday evening, the Panthers sealed their win against the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final with a score of 5-3, clinching the series in five games. The turning point came with just over seven minutes remaining when Carter Verhaeghe scored to take the lead following an assist from Aleksander Barkov, never looking back after that moment.
For the second time in three years, Florida defeated the Hurricanes in the Eastern Final. Now, they will go against the victor of the Western Final between Dallas and Edmonton, where the Oilers lead their series 3-1 and stand just one victory away from another encounter with Florida for the championship.
Sam Bennett scored an empty-net goal with 54 seconds remaining by racing towards a loose puck directly from the penalty box after Florida successfully defended a crucial late power play against the Hurricanes.
This concluded a thrilling night where the Hurricanes took an early 2-0 advantage thanks to turnovers, followed by Florida countering with three goals in the second period. However, Seth Jarvis of Carolina managed to score past Bobrovsky halfway through the final frame, leveling the game at 3-3.
That encompasses everything that makes our sport wonderful,” remarked Florida coach Paul Maurice. “We’re facing challenges from every direction. We seem to be struggling and not performing well enough for playoff contention, but before long, we start looking quite strong.
Once it concluded, the Panthers took photos on their opponents’ home rink as they received the Prince of Wales Trophy for winning the conference. Despite this, some dedicated Hurricanes supporters stayed optimistic, occasionally shouting “Let’s go, Oilers!”
The frustration is fitting given how Florida has now twice thwarted Carolina’s attempt at their first Cup Final appearance since winning their only championship in 2006, with current coach Rod Brind’Amour having been the team captain back then.
Although Florida had claimed victory in the initial three matches of this series, they suffered a defeat with a score of 3-0 at their home venue on Monday evening when the Hurricanes prevented them from sweeping for the second consecutive time. However, by the end of the match on Wednesday, the Panthers managed to secure all three contests played in Raleigh during the series. They also extended their away game winning streak in these playoffs to five games and secured their eighth postseason road win overall.
Brind’Amour stated, “They’re an excellent team, and clearly over the past few years, they’ve set the benchmark. I believed our players fought extremely hard throughout the entire series.”
Tkachuk, Evan Rodrigues, and Anton Lundell netted goals consecutively during Florida’s second-period surge — with two occurring within a 30-second timeframe — while Bobrovsky ended up making 20 saves.
The assist from Barkov during Verhaeghe’s game-winning goal truly shone as an exceptional performance on its own. Amidst a fierce struggle close to the boards on the left side against Carolina’s Dmitry Orlov, Florida’s team leader managed to spin towards the net front, maneuver past Eric Robinson, and deliver a precise pass to Verhaeghe who sealed the deal. This momentous play quieted down the roaring Hurricanes fans at home right after Jarvis had equalized the score.
He faced one player, then two players, and subsequently passed the puck to me with a fairly open net,” Verhaeghe stated. “It was an incredible move by Barky during a crucial moment.
Sebastian Aho found the back of the net twice in the opening frame for the Carolina team, capitalizing on two neutral-zone turnovers. The initial score came courtesy of Gustav Forsling’s mistake, which set Aho up perfectly for a breakaway he successfully finished. Later in the period, just over a minute before its conclusion, Aho struck again thanks to a turnover by Niko Mikkola, extending their advantage to 2-0.
Carolina has secured at least one postseason series during their ongoing stretch of seven consecutive playoff berths, although three of these runs have concluded in the Eastern Conference Finals. Notably, two of them were swept, extending their losing conference final streak to 15 games until they broke this pattern with a victory in Game 4 on Monday. This streak included sweep losses in both 2009, 2019, and the initial match against the Panthers earlier in 2023.
