Canes Find Their Footing, Force Game 5

RALEIGH, N.C - With their backs against the wall, the Carolina Hurricanes snapped back into the form that had rolled through the first two rounds of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Monday's matchup presented a "win or go home" scenario, but the Canes were aiming to do both. Three periods and three goals later, they were heading back to Raleigh not to begin their summer, but instead with another opportunity to climb back into the Eastern Conference Final at Lenovo Center on Wednesday, having staved off elimination with a dominant shutout showing in Game 4.

“Right from the start, we were good all night. It was how we need to play if we’re going to have a chance, and we gave ourselves a chance. That’s all you can ask," said Canes Coach Rod Brind'Amour.

It took all 18 skaters and a sterling performance from Frederik Andersen to get the job done, but that's life at this point in the postseason. Particularly after Brind'Amour said the team "needed more from some guys" in Game 3, a balanced effort was not just a key to the game, it was a necessity to ensure they earned the right to play another.

“Watch the way we played tonight, everyone put their heart on the line," said Jaccob Slavin, who posted a team-high +3 rating and led the Canes with 28:00 TOI. "[We] played extremely hard. We know we have a good group in here, we know we have all the pieces, we just have to bring it every night.

"That’s what happened tonight. We brought it. There were no lapses. Everyone played hard, everyone worked hard and we were doing it together.”

Stayin' Alive...

Heading into Monday's must-win contest, the big picture looked bleak for the Canes. After cruising by the New Jersey Devils and Washington Capitals without much adversity, in a span of just days, the team had been on the wrong end of a pair of lopsided losses, and the outside noise was growing louder and louder by the hour.

Their toughness and their ability as a team had come into question. But last night, they put their work boots on and earned themselves another opportunity.

“No one wants to go out like that. All of us in this room are professionals for a reason, and we’re going to give it our best shot," Slavin explained after the win. "There’s a lot of pride in our game from the season that we’ve had and the work ethic we put in all year. To put three games out there like we did (didn't feel good). Then to come work tonight extremely hard, obviously, we all take pride in that. We just have to keep doing it together.”

The team certainly should take pride in their effort from Monday, looking much more true to the identity that had gotten them to this point. They defended well, holding Florida to just 20 shots, despite a quartet of power plays.

Offensively, a more effective forecheck enabled the Hurricanes to "put their game on" the Panthers, the importance of which Jordan Martinook has emphasized throughout the postseason.

“I don’t know if there was much difference in the physicality or the way we were doing it, but I think we turned a lot more pucks over," said the Canes' alternate captain. "Whenever you’re doing that, then obviously you’re going to play more in their end. You’ve seen that. We’ve got a lot more chances. We’re trying to have good sticks and to finish every chance we get and hopefully it leads to more offense.”

The next challenge? Doing it all over again.

That's easier said than done against a veteran group in Florida, which is seeking its third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final. But having gotten their first foothold in the series, the Canes are coming home confident they can climb to the next one.

"I think that this was our best game in this series so far," said Sebastian Aho, who helped put the icing on the cake with one of two empty-net markers on Monday. "I think we showed a lot of heart, we battled really hard and Freddie was unreal, guys in front of him were selling out. Just the small little details that were dialed in. This effort, we showed to them but for sure to ourselves that, if we keep playing like that, it’s going to give us a chance to win on any given day in this league.”

Perfect Penalty Kill...

Individually, no one had a better night than Frederik Andersen, whose flawless 20-save showing made him the fourth goaltender in franchise history with multiple playoff shutouts. Going hand-in-hand with the adage that your goaltender needs to be your best penalty killer, the veteran was just that, making several timely saves during Carolina's four stints of shorthanded play.

It was four too many opportunities afforded to the Cats for the Canes' liking, but Tim Gleason's troops found a way to turn a negative into a positive.

“Every team feeds off their PK after a big kill, and our PK was obviously great tonight," Captain Jordan Staal said. "It’s going to have to be super important if we want to keep coming back in this series and keep moving forward.

Each time Carolina was able to kill off one of their minors, it provided a pendulum shift back in the visitors' direction.

“You definitely can gain some momentum off the kills, and obviously, we had some big ones in big moments of the game," Sebastian Aho said. Freddie was unreal, I felt like he saw every puck and every puck somehow looked like an easy save, but definitely wasn’t. Killers were really good today, and that’s probably one of the reasons we won.”

Perhaps the most impressive thing about the penalty kill's big night was that they got it done without two important members - Jalen Chatfield and Sean Walker, who both missed another game due to undisclosed injuries.

“It’s pretty amazing, really, because those guys are such good killers," Brind'Amour said. "Chatty, for sure, he’s always on it. There’s a level of desperation there on the kill. There’s a breakdown, and all of a sudden guys are flying in there, just trying to get in the way. Which is what you have to do. We had some saves too. All that contributed to it."

Rookies Shining Bright On The Big Stage...

After Saturday's Game 3 loss, Brind'Amour said Carolina's four rookies (Jackson Blake, Scott Morrow, Alexander Nikishin, and Logan Stankoven) were some of the team's best players - but that shouldn't be the case this time of year.

It may not be the head coach's preference, but at least for Monday night, Nikishin and Stankoven were some of the team's top dogs once again.

Connecting for the game-opening goal during the second period, the 23-year-old blueliner, playing in just his third game on the continent, made a swift backhand pass through the neutral zone, catching Florida on a line change and springing Stankoven in alone. It was a heads-up play that had the prized prospect's awareness on full display.

“We’ve heard a lot about him, haven’t seen a lot of him yet, but obviously, you can see the player he is and what he’s capable of," Staal said of Nikishin post-game. "He’s stepped into a tough situation and played really well.”

Skating 18:53, it's been a rapid increase in responsibility for "Niki," who has done an admirable job filling in for the still banged-up Jalen Chatfield next to countryman Dmitry Orlov.

“I just like that he’s not rattled. He’s going on our plan. Sometimes the young kids come over and come in and they don’t realize the moment. They’re just playing hockey. Sometimes it take a couple of years and they realize, 'Whoa, this is really important,'" Brind'Amour reviewed following the win. "He looks like he’s unfazed. I don’t know, I can’t really tell you. He’s doing a great job for us, obviously.”

The second-period strike wasn't just a great moment for two players with big futures; it was a sorely needed occurrence for the here-and-now unit, giving them their first lead in the series.

“It’s a tough time of year to come in as a rookie and play minutes like that. It’s huge," Jaccob Slavin praised. "The games that they played tonight were awesome."

Stankoven's fifth marker of the postseason made him the first rookie in Hurricanes/Whalers history to score multiple game-winning goals in a postseason, impressing his bench boss once again.

“(He was the best player) the other night too. Clearly. He’s been great," Brind'Amour said. "There’s another kid that’s just getting going in his career. There’s another level that he’s going to get to. We’re real fortunate to have these young kids in the organization."