The Florida Panthers are in the driver’s seat in the 2025 Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes. Coming off a 5-2 win in Game One on Thursday, the Cats blanked the Canes, 5-0, on Thursday night. The series now shifts to Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida, for the next two games.
Sergei Bobrovsky went long stretches without seeing a shot on Thursday; a dramatic reversal from how the Hurricanes are usually able to dominate puck possession against most opponents. Carolina generated a meager seven shots over the game’s first 40 minutes (three in the first period, four in the second) before Bobrovsky made 10 stops in the final frame to lock down a 17-save shutout.
Big opening period for Panthers
The Panthers built a 3-0 lead by the first intermission. After Gustav Forsling (first goal of the playoffs) got Florida on the board first just 77 seconds after the opening faceoff, the Panthers played from ahead the rest of the night.
In the latter half of the first period, Matthew Tkachuk (4th) and Sam Bennett (PPG, 8th) extended the lead to three goals. Carter Verhaeghe had primary assists on both goals. Earlier, Tkachuk and Bennett collected the apples on the Forsling goal that opened the scoring for Florida.
Bennett Strikes again in 2nd period
The Panthers outshot Carolina by a massive 11-4 margin in the middle period. However, the Hurricanes nearly clung on to get the game to the final 20 minutes no worse (or better) off than they started the second period. That is, until Bennett (second marker of the game, 9th of the playoffs) struck again at 19:21 to extend the Panthers’ lead to four goals. Verhaeghe (third assist of the game) and Aaron Ekblad assisted.
Added insult to injury in final period
The Panthers went 2-for-2 on the power play in Thursday’s tilt. By comparison, Carolina was 0-for-3. At 13:49 of the third period, an Aleksander Barkov deflection goal (PPG,4th) provided a five-goal margin. Ekblad and Evan Rodrigues each picked up their respective second assists of the game.
Losing goaltender Frederik Andersen made just four saves on 16 shots before being removed by head coach Rod Brind’Amour prior to the start of the third period. In relief, Pyotr Kochetkov stopped four of five shots in the third period.
What’s next
The Hurricanes already face a very daunting proposition. Effectively, the team needs to win both Games Three and Four in Florida and then replicate in again at home in Game Five in order take over series control from the defending Stanley Cup champion (and back-to-back Eastern Conference champion) Panthers. The quest starts on Saturday night (8:00 p.m. EDT) in Sunrise.
