Hurricanes embrace ‘great challenge’ Panthers present in Eastern Final

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes know what they’re up against in the Eastern Conference Final against the Florida Panthers.

“I know for sure we’re hungry,” center Sebastian Aho said Monday. “I’m sure they will be too. To be the best, you’ve got to beat the best. They’re defending Cup champs and a really good team.

“It’s going to be a great challenge for us. Can’t wait.”

Game 1 of the best-of-7 series will be held at Lenovo Center on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; MAX, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).

It will have some added juice for Carolina. Memories are still fresh from the 2023 conference final, when Florida swept the series in four straight. The Panthers won each game by one goal, including a 3-2 win in four overtimes in Game 1 and a 2-1 overtime victory in Game 2.

“It didn’t feel good at the time, and whenever you have tough losses when you feel good about where you’re headed, they always stick out in your mind,” Carolina captain Jordan Staal said. “But (it’s) a new challenge and different players.

“It’s definitely in the back of your mind, and you want to get them back.”

The Hurricanes are in the conference final for the second time in three years after eliminating the Washington Capitals in five games. Last season, they were eliminated in the second round by the New York Rangers.

The Panthers, meanwhile, won the Stanley Cup last season after defeating the Edmonton Oilers in Game 7.

“How is it going to be different? We know we’re playing the Stanley Cup champs,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “They got better, in my opinion. They picked up (former Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones and former Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand), who were some of the best players off other teams. It’s going to be a challenge. We know it’s going to be tough, but it’s supposed to be at this time of year.

“Guys who have been through it understand that a little more now because they have been through it.”

Carolina has relied on balanced scoring in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, with 15 players having scored at least one goal through 10 games. Andrei Svechnikov leads the Hurricanes with eight goals, and Aho (three goals, seven assists) and Seth Jarvis (four goals, six assists) are tied for the team lead in points with 10 each.

The Hurricanes will also rely on their identity as a puck-pressure team, even on the penalty kill. After finishing the regular season with the top penalty kill (83.6 percent), Carolina has carried that success into the playoffs, where it again ranks first at 93.3 percent.

“It feels like a man-on-man all over the ice. They’re in your face,” Jones said Monday. “Their penalty kill is great. There’s not a lot of space out there. It’s kind of a similar style to what we play. They’re known for just trying to suffocate you, forechecking, not turning pucks over in the neutral zone and playing a brand of hockey that everyone understands how to play.”

That description mirrors how Staal views the Panthers, who just eliminated the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 6-1 victory in Game 7 on Sunday.

“They’re a puck-pressure team, a forechecking team,” Staal said. “They’ve got a lot of talent, good special teams, and they don’t beat themselves. We have to be on our game against a great team like that. Once the game gets going, it’s who does it better and who’s sharper.”

And if the Hurricanes are going to take the next step and advance to the Stanley Cup Final, they will have plenty of reminders along the way of how close they came two seasons ago.

“You always want to get back, you always want to go farther,” Carolina defenseman Jaccob Slavin said. “Whether you get swept in the first round or the conference final, it’s never fun. We know we have a good group, a different group than we had two years ago, so we have full confidence moving forward.

“The past is in the past and we’re focused on the group we have, and we have all the confidence in the world in it.”