The Panthers have never lost a postseason game to the Canes on six occasions. The Hurricanes have lost an all-time record 14 consecutive Stanley Cup Semifinals/Conference Finals games.
Cats goalie Sergei Bobrovsky picked up a Panthers franchise record third shutout in a single postseason. It ended up being his sixth career playoff shutout.
Florida blasted out to a 1-0 lead on their first shot on goal at the 1:17 mark of the first period. Matthew Tkachuk intercepted a clearing pass at the left point and angled a pass ahead. Gustav Forsling snapped a shot from the high slot past Frederik Andersen for his first tally of the postseason.
The Panthers increased it to 2-0 with 8:19 left in the first. Niko Mikkola cycled the puck with a backhand pass from the right wing. Carter Verhaeghe came out from behind the net and slid a pass from the right side of the crease. Tkachuk tapped the puck in from the blue paint for his fourth goal in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
It became 3-0 for the Cats on the power play with 4:10 to go in the period. Evan Rodrigues pushed the puck from the right corner. After an initial Verhaghe shot from above the right circle was blocked, Verhaeghe released a wrist shot from the top left circle and Sam Bennett redirected it from the top of the crease for his eighth postseason goal. It was just the Panthers fifth shot on goal in the contest.
In the second period, Carolina had a goal disallowed 50 seconds into the frame on a Florida replay challenge and the Canes did not cut the deficit. The puck was knocked back into the Panthers zone from just outside of the blue line by Brent Burns for an offside call.
Florida made it 4-0 with 39 seconds left in the second. Aaron Ekblad fired a shot from the top of the zone that was deflected wide by Verhaeghe from the low slot. He circled around the Hurricanes cage and backhanded it from the left goal line. Bennett collected his second goal of the contest and ninth playoff goal when he put in a snap shot from the crease area. It was Bennett's first multi-goal playoff game since 2020 with the Calgary Flames versus the Dallas Stars. Carolina replaced Andersen in net with Pyotr Kochetkov following the conclusion of the second period.
The Panthers expanded it to a five-goal margin 5-0 on a power-play goal with 6:11 remaining in the third period. Rodrigues passed the puck from the left wing to the left point and Ekblad carried it across the ice to the right point. His shot was redirected in by Aleksander Barkov from the top of the crease by Kochetkov for his fourth goal of the playoffs.
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