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Series wrap-up: Panthers advance to the final
Marc-Olivier Cook
Series wrap-up: Panthers advance to the final
Credit: The Panthers had the opportunity to eliminate the Hurricanes last night in Carolina. A Florida win would send the organization to a third straight Stanley Cup Final. And that’s exactly what happened. Not that the Hurricanes weren’t ready to play, though. In the first period, it was up to Sebastian Aho… who scored his team’s […]
The Panthers had the opportunity to eliminate the Hurricanes last night in Carolina.

A Florida win would send the organization to a third straight Stanley Cup Final.

And that’s exactly what happened.

Not that the Hurricanes weren’t ready to play, though.

In the first period, it was up to Sebastian Aho… who scored his team’s first two goals of the game.

It was 2-0 to the Canes after 20 minutes of play, and honestly, they looked in control. But…

But everyone knows the Panthers’ strike force.

The Floridian outfit has the luxury of three trios that have been going strong since the start of the playoffs, and they were able to count on them again last night.

Matthew Tkachuk, Evan Rodrigues and Anton Lundell scored three goals in five minutes in the second period… and just like that, with a snap of the fingers, the Panthers took a 3-2 lead in the game.

We have to talk about it: in the game, the Panthers lost a big one.

Eetu Luostarinen, who’s having a fiery series, hurt himself trying to hit Taylor Hall. And to see the images, it looked really painful.

At least the Stanley Cup Final doesn’t start tomorrow…

The Hurricanes went into the third period with one goal in mind: to get back into the game and avoid elimination in front of their home fans.

Seth Jarvis, one of the club’s leaders, rose to the occasion: the diminutive forward foiled Sergei Bobrovsky with a sublime maneuver.

With just over 10 minutes to play, the two clubs were level at 3-3:

Back in 2024, during the club’s run, we all realized that Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov was a bit underrated.

And guess who did it all on the Panthers’ game-winning goal?

Sure enough. Captain Barkov. The little backhand deke before handing the disc to Carter Verhaeghe… beautiful :

The Hurricanes never had an answer.

Sam Bennett – who else? – scored into an empty net to secure victory for the Panthers, who are heading to the finals for the third year running.

Now it remains to be seen whether they’ll have a rematch with the Oilers…

Oh, and for those wondering: no, the Panthers didn’t touch the trophy after the game.

Just like last year… and we often wonder what happened:


Extension

– All means are good. Although…

– Classique.

– 14 players collected at least one point last night.

(Credit: NHL.com)

– Game 5 of the Stars vs Oilers series tonight. The game will be presented in Dallas (8pm) and the Stars will try to avoid elimination.

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