Hurricanes not deviating from plan ahead of Game 3

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Sebastian Aho and Martin Necas sat at the podium one after the other at PNC Arena on Sunday and talked about how although the goals aren't coming, they don't need to do much different against the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference Final.

Carolina will hit the road for Game 3 at FLA Live Arena on Monday (8 p.m. ET; TNT, CBC, SN, TVAS) trailing 2-0 in the best-of-7 series following consecutive overtime heartbreakers, losing 3-2 in a quadruple overtime marathon in Game 1, and 2-1 just 1:51 into the first overtime in Game 2.

Of the Hurricanes' three total goals in the 10-plus periods of play, only one has been scored at 5-on-5.

"I think that the effort has been there. It's not that," Aho said. "We all worked our tails off and, especially last night, we definitely had enough to create more than one goal and kind of take the game over. But, obviously, they're a good team. They have a good goalie. We just have to keep finding ways to score more goals, but at the same time, we want to stick with what we want to do and keep them off the scoreboard.

"It's not like they've been dominating us or any of that."

Aho is correct. The Panthers did not dominate the first two games, but they made the big plays when they needed to be made, and many of them came from their top players.

Matthew Tkachuk scored the overtime goal in each of the first two games, and Aleksander Barkov has three points (two goals, one assist). Then there's goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who made 63 saves in Game 1 before following up that effort with 37 in Game 2.

The Hurricanes controlled play for stretches in each game, including outshooting the Panthers 18-1 in the opening 11:31 of Game 2. But they had only a 1-0 lead to show for it, courtesy of a redirection from Jalen Chatfield off a centering pass from Aho at 1:43.

"We had some chances both games," Necas said. "There was a lot of chances that we didn't score on. … We've got to get more to the net and once you get one, then you feel a little more relaxed and then maybe you have a chance and you do something else. Then, if you don't score, you've just got to stay relaxed even though it's 2-0 for them and just got to play our game."

RELATED: [Complete Hurricanes vs. Panthers series coverage]

Necas, who had NHL career highs in goals (28), assists (43) and points (71) during the regular season, has seven points (four goals, three assists) in 13 Stanley Cup Playoff games, including a power-play assist in Game 1 against Florida. Aho, who led the Hurricanes with 36 goals and was second with 67 points, has one goal in his past seven playoff games but has two assists against the Panthers.

Seth Jarvis and Stefan Noesen, who each has a goal and an assist, are the only other Hurricanes players with more than one point in the series.

"It's a hard-fought series," Aho said. "There's not much going on. Especially 5-on-5, there's not a lot of scoring chances either way. So, whenever you get your chance, you want to try to bury it."

Jordan Staal is usually a reliable shutdown center against top offensive players, such as New York Islanders forward Mathew Barzal in the first round and New Jersey Devils forward Jack Hughes in the second round, but his line with Teuvo Teravainen and Necas has had trouble containing Barkov. In addition to scoring a highlight-reel backhand goal that tied the game 1-1 in the second period of Game 2, the 6-foot-3, 215-pound center has been a force controlling the puck at both ends of the ice.

Even the usually reliable defense pair of Jaccob Slavin and Brent Burns has had its troubles. They both combined on the turnover that led to Tkachuk's winning goal in Game 1, and on Tkachuk's winning power-play goal in Game 2, Slavin's stick got stuck in the bottom of Burn's skate while they were battling with Barkov in the right corner, which essentially took both out of the play.

"It's a lot of little things," Necas said. "I feel like both games could've [gone] either way. They've been a little better in the overtimes, and now we've just got to focus on the next one."

The Panthers will have last change at home the next two games, so the Hurricanes won't have control of the matchups. Although Carolina coach Rob Brind'Amour said they'll consider some tweaks, he didn't sound like he wanted to do anything as substantial as shuffling his line combinations.

"There's obviously things we can be better at, but it was good enough to win (two games)," Brind'Amour said. "It could've easily gone that way and we'd won two, you [wouldn't want to make big changes]. You have to be careful not to try to blow everything up and think it's not working."

Teams that have taken a 2-0 lead in the semifinal round of the playoffs have gone on to win the best-of-7 series 90.7 percent (78-8) of the time. Teams that take a 3-0 lead in any best-of-7 series have gone on to win 98 percent (200-4) of the time, so the Hurricanes' margin for error is essentially gone.

Whatever approach they take in Game 3 needs to produce a victory.

"That's the only thing we're thinking right now, just go out there tomorrow and play our best game and win a hockey game," Aho said. "That's the main the goal and, obviously, that's what we'll be focused on doing."