Panthers rally past Canes, clinch another finals appearance

Hindustan Times

5 days ago

A trip to the Stanley Cup Final is becoming old hat for the Florida Panthers.
After dispatching the Carolina Hurricanes with a 5-3 win in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals in Raleigh, N.C., on Wednesday, the Panthers clinched a third straight appearance in the Cup finals and the opportunity to defend their 2023-24 title.
Carter Verhaeghe scored the go-ahead goal in the third period, and Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett each had a goal and an assist for the Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky made 20 saves.
Florida will face the winner of the Edmonton-Dallas series, which the Oilers lead 3-1 heading into Game 5 on Thursday. The Panthers won the Cup over Edmonton last season in seven games.
"We're going to be very prepared," Tkachuk said. "We know how. It was really different two years ago, it was so new to us. ...
"It's not our first rodeo with this. We're looking forward to the journey of getting there and then ultimately in the series. The time of our lives, so you might as well enjoy it. If you don't enjoy it, then you probably shouldn't be here."
Sebastian Aho scored twice and Seth Jarvis had a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes. Frederik Andersen stopped 17 shots.
"I got nothing but pride with this group," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "Yeah, we didn't love how this kind of went, this series, but again, the standard right there. You're not giving Florida enough credit."
Verhaeghe put Florida in front 4-3 at 12:21 of the third. He took a pass through the crease from Aleksander Barkov and roofed it over Andersen.
"Barky is so strong on the puck and made a good play at the blue line to get the puck to Barky there and kind of let him do his thing," Verhaeghe said. "He took on one guy and then two guys and then gave the puck to me with a pretty open net. Unbelievable play by Barky at a critical time."
Bennett scored an empty-net goal with 54 seconds remaining to provide the final score.
Jarvis tied it at 3 at 8:30 of the third when he collected the puck in front of the net and lifted it over Bobrovsky's blocker.
Down by two after one period, the Panthers scored three unanswered goals to go ahead 3-2 by the end of the middle frame.
"We're down two, there's 40 minutes of hockey, we can score some goals," Florida coach Paul Maurice said. "We're OK in this game as long as we show some composure with what we do. You're going to get a chance. ... We could not get to 3-0. That was our sole focus. Don't let it get to three, and let's chip away."
Tkachuk got the rally started on a power play at 7:23 when he got his stick on Aaron Ekblad's shot from above the slot and tipped it past Andersen's glove to cut the margin to 2-1.
Evan Rodrigues tied it 30 seconds later. He drove to the net and redirected a feed from Bennett through the five-hole on Andersen.
Anton Lundell put Florida ahead 3-2 at 11:59 following a Carolina icing. After he won the draw, he went to the net and tipped Brad Marchand's feed through the crease over Andersen's left arm.
"I think we definitely get some momentum off once we get the first one," Verhaeghe said. "That's kind of been our mindset throughout the playoffs. I think every game we're just building, trying to get one, not trying to open up our game or play a different way than our style. Guys made great plays at critical moments."
Aho capitalized on a turnover by Florida to give Carolina a 1-0 lead at 4:39 of the first period. He intercepted a pass by Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling in the neutral zone and took off on a breakaway, putting a wrist shot under Bobrovsky's glove.
Aho put the Hurricanes up by a pair at 18:54 of the first. He picked up the puck in the neutral zone and took it to the top of the right circle before wiring a snap shot past Bobrovsky, blocker side.
"To me, you either win or lose the series," Aho said. "It doesn't matter if you lose in four or seven, whatever, you lose the series. But it's something to be proud of that the guys show up for work and never quit, and that's a great thing, but at the end of the day, we weren't able to push through. ...
"We knew it was going to be a big task to try to beat them, and we truly believe that we have what it takes, but we obviously fell short yet again."
Panthers forward Eetu Luostarinen left the game late in the first period and did not return due to an undisclosed injury. Maurice said he did not think the ailment was serious.
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