Matthew Tkachuk plays hero in fourth overtime

The first game of the Final Four took place on Thursday evening, when the Florida Panthers visited the Carolina Hurricanes.

It also featured a clash between three brothers, with Jordan Staal (CAR), Eric Staal (FLA) and Marc Staal (FLA) taking part.

For the field hockey fan, this was an interesting game to watch.

The Panthers eventually won the first game 3-2 in the fourth overtime.

It was definitely an intense, close game, with both teams playing excellent field hockey.

Sergei Bobrovsky and Frederick Andersen were the starting goaltenders on both sides.

It was 21-year-old forward Seth Jarvis who opened the scoring, giving the Hurricanes the lead. He sent a powerful shot on goal. Sergei Bobrovsky could do nothing.

No moment too big for the kid 💥 pic.twitter.com/nYJZdMgHk4

– Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) May 19, 2023

It was the only goal of the first period, which was hotly contested, with good chances on both sides.

The Canes led 12-10 in shots, while having concretized on the power play, as they took advantage of one of their opponents’ penalties.

The second period was very quiet for shots on net, especially for the Canes, as it was 15-15 with only three minutes to go.

We had to wait until the last four minutes of the period before seeing another goal.

Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov opened the scoring for his team with a precise shot. Quebecer Anthony Duclair assisted on the sequence with a beautiful pass to his captain.

Just over two minutes later, Carter Verhaeghe used his weapon of choice to give the Panthers the lead for the first time in the series. The Torontonian fired a shot into the top corner past Andersen.

SWAGGY GIVES US THE LEAD 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/IhusgWOHbH

– Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) May 19, 2023

Barkov collected his second point of the game on this goal.

With the score at 2-1, the two teams returned to the locker room. The Panthers took an 18-17 lead in shots.

Of course, as with any good NHL playoff game, tempers began to flare as the brawls became more and more present.

When you’ve got Radko Gudas and Matthew Tkachuk on one side, it’s rare to have a quiet stoppage time.

Stefan Noesen, playing on the first unit alongside Seth Jarvis and Sebastian Aho, brought everyone back to square one with a very important goal early in the period.

He completed the scoring on the power play to boost his team’s efficiency to 2 in 4 on the power play.

The Hurricanes were everywhere in the third period. They completely dominated Paul Maurice’s team in terms of shots, with 14 to the Cats ‘ 2 in the third.

That’s an incredible statistic for scoring chances in the third period.

Direction overtime.

Ryan Lomberg, back in the lineup, thought he’d played hero with the overtime winner, but the goal was disallowed after review.

Was the goal good, in your opinion?

Both teams had chances to score, but no goals were scored. Heading into the fifth period for the first time in the 2023 series.

It was finally at the end of the fourth overtime that Matthew Tkachuk gave his team the win.

Florida leads the series 1-0.

Next game is tomorrow (Saturday), 8pm, at PNC Arena.

Extension

– Although several statistical columns were very close in this game, the percentage of face-offs won was heavily in the Hurricanes’ favor in the first half (62-38).

Rod Brind’Amour’s team took their foot off the gas pedal in the second half, but still maintained an efficiency of 56.1% in the three periods of regulation time.

Paul Statsny, Jordan Staal and Anton Lundell stood out for their efficiency in the face-off circle. They won 66%, 62% and 60% of their duels respectively.

– A big night’s work for them.