Hurricanes Break Panthers

     The Florida Panthers failed to tie an NHL record with their 12th consecutive road win as they were defeated by the Carolina Hurricanes 1-0 at PNC Arena on Thursday night. The Panthers were unable to share the record for consecutive road victories with the 2005-06 Detroit Red Wings and the 2014-15 Minnesota Wild. The Cats last road loss was in Calgary on December 18. 

     The previous time Florida(37-16-4) and Carolina(34-17-5) met at this venue was in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals. The Panthers won Game 1 in four overtimes and Game 2 in overtime. 

     The Canes stopped a five-game losing streak to the Cats which included playoff games. The last time the Hurricanes beat the Panthers was during the 2022-23 regular season finale in Sunrise where they clinched the Metropolitan Division title. 

     The first period and second period were scoreless between both teams. The Hurricanes scored with 18.9 seconds left in the third for a 1-0 lead. Sebastian Aho snapped a shot from the inner right circle past Sergei Bobrovsky for his 21st goal of the season. Andrei Svechnikov and Jesper Fast were both credited with assists on the play.