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Associated Press
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
For Panthers, clinching a 3rd consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Final didn't lead to celebrating
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Bill Zito didn't do any significant celebrating after the Florida Panthers clinched their third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final. He got some food and went back to work. At this point, no one around the team would expect anything different. The franchise that could not win a playoff series for a quarter-century now is in the midst of a back-to-back-to-back run to the NHL's championship round. Florida won 25 playoff games in its first 28 seasons combined; the Panthers have won 41 playoff games — and counting — in their most recent three seasons. The novelty of winning at this time of year hasn't worn off, but the Panthers have simply become used to it now. The main thing — the Cup — is the main thing. That's why after the most recent win, beating Carolina on Wednesday night to finish off the Eastern Conference title in five games, there were no helmets being thrown in the air, no raucous beer-spraying locker room scene, no thick wafts of cigar smoke. A few handshakes, something to eat, and that was it. 'I think everybody likes it right when people are kind to you and say things that are nice,' Zito, the team's hockey operations president and general manager, said before the Panthers flew home from Carolina on Thursday. 'But we learned. The journey isn't over and there's work to do and we have to be focused on that and keep your eye on the goal. Don't let success get in your way.' To be fair, for the Panthers, this is unprecedented levels of success. They have now played 11 playoff series since the start of the 2023 postseason — their first one with Matthew Tkachuk in a Florida sweater. They have won 10 of those series, only falling in the 2023 final to Vegas. They're 41-21 in playoff games under coach Paul Maurice and actually have a better road record in those games (23-10) than they do at home (18-11). 'I didn't even think about it,' Tkachuk said after the Carolina series ended. 'Just reacted how I reacted. I mean, I think it was different a few years ago. I remember a few years ago it felt like such an accomplishment from where we were at one point. I know we talked about it last year. It's part of the journey. And same way with this year. It's all business, and we've got a bigger goal in mind.' When the East title series ended, Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour paid the Panthers — who won their first Cup last season — the ultimate compliment. 'They're the standard now,' Brind'Amour said. It has been a long time since the league has seen a run like this. Tampa Bay made three straight finals from 2020 through 2022 (with two of those seasons shortened by COVID), but no team — until now — has navigated three consecutive full regular seasons and gotten to the Stanley Cup Final in each of those years since Edmonton from 1983 through 1985. By the time this year's title series is over, the Panthers will have played more games in a three-year span than any team in NHL history. It's an accomplishment, for certain. Zito wasn't thinking about any of that after the Carolina series. There were travel plans to put together, reports to look at, somewhere between four and seven more games left in this season to think about. 'I don't think that the elation or the appreciation for the moment diminishes,' Zito said. 'I think perhaps the way it manifests itself, it's just channeled differently. ... That level of respect and appreciation for where you are, in tandem with the hunger, you want to do it again. You want to do it again. What can we start doing now? Don't stop. Don't get content. And those guys, they woke up with 100 texts each from everyone telling them how great they are. Everyone did. And it's not over.' ___ AP NHL playoffs: and
New York Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Panthers advance to Stanley Cup Final for third straight year, eliminate Hurricanes: Takeaways
SUNRISE, Fla. — For the sixth straight year, the Stanley Cup will run through Florida. Down two goals heading into the second period after a brutal opening period Wednesday, the Florida Panthers scored three times in the second period, then held off an attempted third-period comeback by the Carolina Hurricanes to take Game 5 of the Eastern Conference final by a 5-3 score and claim the Prince of Wales Trophy for the third consecutive season. Advertisement In the three years prior, the Tampa Bay Lightning won the East. Seth Jarvis sent Lenovo Center into orbit by scoring the tying goal in the third period, but Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov withstood being held by Dmitry Orlov, freed himself and set up Mr. Clutch himself, Carter Verhaeghe, for his latest big playoff goal with 7:39 left in the third period. Verhaeghe, who has scored 32 goals in 86 career playoff games, now has three series-clinching goals with Florida. — x – Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) May 29, 2025 It was Florida's first multi-goal comeback to clinch a series in franchise history, and the Panthers became the fifth team in the past 30 years with a multi-goal comeback win to clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup Final. They also became the seventh team since the 1967-68 expansion to appear in at least three consecutive Stanley Cup Finals and the second since the New York Islanders went to four straight during their 1980 to '84 dynasty. If the Oilers, up 3-1 in their series with Dallas, advance, this would be the first Stanley Cup Final rematch since 2008 and 2009 when the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins met in back-to-back years. Detroit won in 2008 and Pittsburgh in 2009. After Sebastian Aho scored twice in the first period, Matthew Tkachuk and Evan Rodrigues scored 30 seconds apart in the second followed by Anton Lundell 4:06 later. Up 4-3 late, the Panthers killed a late Carolina power play, and Sam Bennett came out of the box to score an empty-net goal to ice things. The Panthers, who will start the Stanley Cup Final in Edmonton or Dallas, won all three road games in the series and have won five in a row away from South Florida. They outscored the Toronto Maple Leafs and Canes 27-7 in those past five road games. They are 8-2 on the road in the playoffs. Advertisement Here are takeaways from Wednesday night. Tkachuk, who snapped a 10-game goal drought in Game 2 of the series, sparked the comeback with a goal and an assist 30 seconds apart in the second period. With the Panthers' power play in an 0-for-10 drought and shotless on two consecutive power plays in the first period with a chance to tie, Tkachuk redirected Aaron Ekblad's shot to cut the deficit to 2-1 just 20 seconds after the Panthers successfully killed a Seth Jones minor. TKACHUK ON THE POWERPLAY, WE GOT A GAME FOLKS 👀 — B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 29, 2025 On the next shift, with Rodrigues taking Carter Verhaeghe's spot on the Bennett-Tkachuk line, Tkachuk took a hit from Jordan Martinook by the Florida bench to send Rodrigues into the zone. Rodrigues completed a give-and-go with Bennett for his first goal of the playoffs. Florida now has 19 different goal scorers in the playoffs. EVAN RODRIGUES! Two goals in 30 seconds for the Panthers and we're all tied up at 2!#TimeToHunt | #StanleyCup — Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) May 29, 2025 The Panthers weren't done. After a faceoff win by Lundell, on a set play, he drove the net as Brad Marchand grabbed the puck, slid down the left-wing boards and centered a pass for a goalmouth roof shot by Lundell for a 3-2 lead. The Panthers scored on three of their seven shots in the second. LUNDELL!! FLORIDA HAS TAKEN A 3-2 LEAD IN GAME 5 😱 — B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 29, 2025 When Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen was benched earlier in the series, getting yanked at the second intermission of Game 3 and not playing at all in Game 3, it wasn't due to any particularly egregious goals allowed. He wasn't getting embarrassed. There is, though, a cumulative effect to allowing nine goals on 36 shots, as he did before giving way to Pyotr Kochetkov. Andersen wasn't terrible — the other guys get paid too, as the saying goes. He also wasn't good enough. Advertisement Florida's three-goal second period followed a similar script. There was nothing Andersen could've done on Tkachuk's goal. For Rodrigues' and Lundell's, though, there were plays to be made. Andersen seemed to be late picking up the puck off Rodrigues' stick, for example, and he could've used his stick to make things more difficult on Lundell. The end result was an extreme momentum swing and three goals for Florida on their first 10 shots. Andersen is a good goaltender. For two rounds, he might have been Carolina's best player. Against Florida, though, his play dipped, and the Hurricanes suffered. Panthers coach Rod Brind'Amour, at every possible juncture, has stressed the importance of scoring the first goal — even more than the average NHL coach. His team failed to do that in Games 1, 2 and 3, then lost. In Game 4, they took care of business and extended the series. In Game 5, they struck first again; Aho scored on a breakaway four minutes, 39 seconds into the game, sending Lenovo Center into an early bit of overdrive. Aho created the chance for himself when he picked off an ill-advised pass from Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling. It was a rare mistake from one of the league's most reliable defenseman, and it came after gloving a clear attempt by Andrei Svechnikov at center ice. The sequence — Carolina forcing a bad play, catching a bit of good luck and taking advantage — reminded us of something Svechnikov said ahead of the game. 'We obviously played good (in a 3-0 Game 4 win) but also you got to have, maybe, a few lucky bounces (that go) your way and that's what's going we're looking for,' Svechnikov said.
Associated Press
6 days ago
- Sport
- Associated Press
Panthers can sweep their way back to Stanley Cup Final with a win over Hurricanes on Monday night
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Brad Marchand wanted no part of the conversation. He and the Florida Panthers lead the Carolina Hurricanes 3-0 in the Eastern Conference finals. Florida is on the brink of reaching the Stanley Cup Final; it would be the Panthers' third straight appearance in that round and Marchand's first time in the title round since 2019. Talk of getting there, however, can wait. There's another win to get first. 'You don't think about that,' Marchand said when asked what a Cup final trip would mean. 'We're prepared to go seven (games) here and I think the biggest thing for this group is we're really good at just focusing on what we need to do and staying in the moment and not looking ahead. You can't start looking ahead.' Perhaps they can't, but others can. The Prince of Wales Trophy — given to the Eastern Conference champions — will be in Florida's building on Monday night, when the Panthers will get their first chance at eliminating the Hurricanes and clinching yet another East title. 'We're playing for our season,' Carolina forward Taylor Hall said. 'So, there's no point in thinking about what happened previously.' Florida's five-goal third-period barrage turned a tie game into a rout on Saturday night, and the Hurricanes understand the enormity of the situation. They've lost 15 consecutive East finals games and know that only four teams in NHL history have come back from a 3-0 series deficit. 'They've got to win four,' Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal said, his way of his saying the series isn't over yet. The Panthers expect that Niko Mikkola and A.J. Greer, both of whom got hurt in the Game 3 win, will likely be ready for Monday. There's no determination yet on forward Sam Reinhart, who had to sit out Game 3 after a knee injury caused by an awkward hit from Carolina's Sebastian Aho in Game 2. Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk let Aho know the team's displeasure with that play in Game 3, getting a 10-minute misconduct after initiating a response of sorts in the third period and with the outcome decided. 'It's just sticking up for teammates,' Tkachuk said. 'We're a family in there ... and I don't think the rest of us were too thrilled with that play in Game 2. But it is what it is, it's done with, and now the only way we can get them back is by winning the series. So, just one more.' The series The scores so far: 5-2, 5-0 and 6-2. Add it up, and it's Florida 16, Carolina 4. The Hurricanes haven't led for a single second of the three games. It has been historically one-sided. There have been only two series, this deep into the playoffs, where the goal differential was bigger through three games. Boston outscored St. Louis by 18 goals through the first three games of the 1972 semifinals, and Montreal outscored Chicago by 14 goals through the first three games of the 1946 semifinals. Scoring at will Florida has scored on 23.2% of its shots in the series, which is almost unprecedented in NHL playoff history. Going back to the 1960 playoffs, only two teams — Chicago in 1985 and Edmonton in 1990 — shot better in a best-of-five or best-of-seven series. The Black Hawks (they still used the two-word version of their nickname then) shot 26.4% against Detroit in the division semifinals, and the Oilers shot 23.3% against Los Angeles in the division finals. Up 3-0, down 3-0 Being down 3-0 in a series is not new to Carolina. The Hurricanes were down 3-0 to the New York Rangers last season before falling in six games, and down 3-0 to Florida in 2023 before getting swept in the East finals. The franchise was down 3-0 in four different best-of-seven series from 1989 through 2019 as well. Of those, three ended in sweeps and the other against New Jersey went six games in 2001. The coach of that 2001 Carolina team? Paul Maurice, the current Florida coach. Florida is up 3-0 in a series for the first time since last season's Stanley Cup Final against Edmonton — a series that wound up going seven games. 'We'll see what we've learned,' Maurice said. The coaching matchup Florida's Paul Maurice is 7-0 against Carolina's Rod Brind'Amour in playoff games, all in the conference finals in 2023 and now this season. Only Scotty Bowman has gone 8-0 in a head-to-head coaching matchup. His Montreal teams swept Roger Neilson's Toronto teams in the 1978 and 1979 playoffs; Neilson is a former Florida coach as well. Rodrigues waits Going into Sunday, there were 30 players in the NHL with at least 10 points so far in the playoffs. Florida's Evan Rodrigues is one of them — but is the only one of the 30 without a goal. There were 191 players with at least one goal this postseason entering Sunday. 'I'm just saving them,' he said. ___ AP NHL playoffs: and
Washington Post
7 days ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
Panthers score 5 in the 3rd period, roll past Hurricanes 6-2 and move a win away from Cup final
SUNRISE, Fla. — Niko Mikkola and Aleksander Barkov each scored twice, and the Florida Panthers scored five goals in a nine-minute span of the third period to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 6-2 on Saturday night and move one win from a third consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Final. Jesper Boqvist — playing for the injured Sam Reinhart — scored the go-ahead goal early in the third for Florida, which now leads the Eastern Conference finals 3-0. Brad Marchand also scored for the Panthers and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 shots.
New York Times
7 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Panthers on brink of their 3rd straight Stanley Cup Final after another rout of Hurricanes
SUNRISE, Fla. — Fifty-goal scorers who double as Selke finalists don't grow on trees, but as hard as figured to be for the Florida Panthers to replace injured forward Sam Reinhart, coach Paul Maurice made it crystal clear Saturday morning that they don't have the depth they think they have if one injury derails them. Advertisement Enter Jesper Boqvist out of the bullpen. Always ready when called upon, the forward played 78 regular-season games but has had to take a back seat this postseason. On Saturday night, Boqvist reentered the lineup and made it count, scoring a game-swinging goal 89 seconds into the third period. Schooling Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Dmitry Orlov on the play, Boqvist snapped a 1-1 tie to trigger a five-goal third-period explosion and utter dominance by the Panthers en route to a 6-2 pounding in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final. The win put the Carolina Hurricanes on the brink of elimination and the Panthers on the cusp of their third straight Stanley Cup Final appearance. Niko Mikkola scored his second goal of the game less than five minutes later, then Aleksander Barkov scored the first of two goals in a row 29 seconds later. Brad Marchand added another for good measure as a 1-1 game shockingly became 6-1 Panthers by the 10:37 mark. Barkov and Boqvist each finished with three points, while Evan Rodrigues and Matthew Tkachuk had two assists each. Sergei Bobrovsky, who has allowed eight goals in his past seven starts, made 23 saves. It was the Panthers' seventh consecutive win over the Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference final after sweeping them in 2023. In what was expected to be a low-scoring series, Carolina has been outscored 16-4 by Florida. Florida became the third team in the past 30 years to score five-plus goals in four consecutive postseason games, following the Colorado Avalanche (in 2024 and 2021 and the Detroit Red Wings in 1995. In an attempt to change the vibes, Canes coach Rod Brind'Amour started Pyotr Kochetkov over Freddie Andersen, who allowed nine goals in the first two games and was pulled after two periods in Game 2. Kochetkov entered the game 2-0 lifetime against Florida in the regular season with a .986 save percentage. Advertisement It worked for two periods until the wheels fell off the Hurricanes. The loss extended Carolina's losing streak in Eastern Conference final to 15 games after the Canes were swept in 2009, 2019 and 2023. The Hurricanes got a nightmarish game from Orlov, who was a well-earned minus-4. Carolina's blue line entered severely undermanned without defenseman Jalen Chatfield as well Sean Walker, who warmed up but couldn't go and was replaced by rookie Alexander Nikishin. Game 4 is Monday night. This story will be updated.
