5/23/2025
(RALEIGH, NC)
The Florida Panthers captured a commanding 2-0 series lead with a 5-0 blanking of the Carolina Hurricanes. Carolina drops their conference final losing streak to 14. Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal said about the loss, “Pretty much an ass whooping, all the way through the lineup.” The series shifts down to Sunrise with the Canes in search of answers quickly.
The Panthers scored goals from Gustav Forsling, Matthew Tkachuk, a pair from Sam Bennett, and Aleksander Barkov. Sergei Bobrovsky made 17 saves in the shutout.
Florida hoped to build off their commanding 5-2 win in Game 1 Tuesday night where Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves in the win.
It did not take long for Florida to continue where they left off on Tuesday. Defenseman Gustav Forsling chipped in on an offensive forecheck. After a Carolina turnover, Forsling rippled the twine with a goal 1:17 into the game. 10 minutes later, the Panthers were at it again. Carter Verhaeghe caved in from the right faceoff circle. The Panther forward’s pass tipped into the net off the stick of Matthew Tkachuk. The goal at 11:41 put the Cats up 2-0. Tkachuk makes his namesake thanks to finding ways to go underneath the skin of opponents. Andrei Svechnikov took a roughing penalty against Tkachuk at 14:07. On the man advantage, Carter Verhaeghe’s high slot shot got tipped by Sam Bennett to give the Cats a 3-0 lead at 15:50. The Panthers outshot the Hurricanes 5-3 in the opening period, but had as many goals as Carolina had shots.
Sam Reinhart left the game in the first period for Florida and did not return.
A response from Carolina in the second period was paramount if they sought any pushback. Instead, the Hurricanes were outshot 11-4. The fans at Lenovo Center began chanting “shoot the puck” late in the second frame. Sam Bennett scored his second goal of the game off a pass from Carter Verhaeghe with 39 seconds left in the period. Florida outshot Carolina 16-7 through two periods. Hurricanes Head Coach Rod Brind’amour pulled goaltender Frederick Andersen for Pyotor Kochetkov in period three.
Although Carolina outshot Florida 10-5 in the third period, the damage was already done. Aleksander Barkov tipped in an Aaron Ekblad shot for the final Panther goal at 13:49 of the third period. The Panthers cruised to a 5-0 shutout win thanks to 17 saves from goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, and three assists from Carter Verhaeghe.
The victory caps a six day sequence that saw Florida rout the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 7, and win both games in Carolina. Florida outscored their opponents 16-3 over a three game span. Tkachuk when speaking to media about the level the Panthers played said, “It might have been natural to take a little bit to get going tonight, and it was the exact opposite…it was an unreal start for us.” Rod Brind’amour for the Hurricanes was left astonished in the postgame press conference, “I don’t know what I was watching in the first period…that didn’t go well.”
The series shifts back to Sunrise for Game 3 at 5 p.m. on Saturday. The game will be broadcasted on TNT and CBC.
Stay tuned to ESN for continued updates on the NHL Conference Finals.
www.elisportsnetwork.com
