2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Panthers vs. Hurricanes, Eastern Conference Final preview

The Eastern Conference Final between the Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers begins Tuesday at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C. Today, NHL.com previews the series:

(3A) Florida Panthers vs. (2M) Carolina Hurricanes

Panthers: 47-31-4, 98 points
Hurricanes: 47-30-5, 99 points
Season series: FLA: 2-1-0; CAR: 1-2-0
Game 1: Tuesday at Carolina (8 p.m. ET; MAX, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC)

The Florida Panthers are trying to reach the Stanley Cup Final for the third straight season. For the second time, they'll have to go through the Carolina Hurricanes to get there.

The Panthers swept the Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final in 2023, winning all four games by one goal and holding Carolina to six goals on 174 shots in the series.

They lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final that year, but the Panthers made it back to the Stanley Cup Final last season and won their first championship, defeating the Edmonton Oilers in seven games.

"If anything, we know there's a tremendous amount of work left," Panthers forward Sam Reinhart said. "It certainly doesn't get easier against a team like Carolina. We've seen them year in, year out, and we've had a series against them that was as tight as any just in the checking style of play. So, get back ready, recover, and get ready to go on Tuesday."

The Hurricanes were eliminated by the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference Second Round last season, so they didn't get the chance to take on the Panthers again and change the narrative from what happened in 2023.

They have that chance now.

"It's definitely in the back of your mind and you want to get them back," Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal said.

How do they do that?

"Listen, we know we're playing the Stanley Cup champs," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "They got better in my opinion. They picked up two guys [forward Brad Marchand and defenseman Seth Jones] that 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 that have been through it understand that maybe a little more now because they have been through it, and maybe that's what will be the difference."

Carolina got to the conference final for the third time in seven seasons under Brind'Amour by defeating the New Jersey Devils in the first round and Washington Capitals in the second round.

The Hurricanes needed five games to win both series, allowing 18 goals in the process and dominating on the penalty kill especially, going 28-for-30 (93.3 percent), with one of the goals scored by Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin during a 5-on-3. They're also 9-for-32 on the power play (28.1 percent).

Carolina hasn't played since winning Game 5 against the Capitals in Washington on Thursday.

Rest could be looked at as a weapon for the Hurricanes, especially since the Panthers played Game 7 against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday and flew directly to Raleigh on Monday. But that's not how the Hurricanes players see it.

"I don't think it really matters a ton," Staal said. "Media loves talking about the rest, but once the game gets going it's who does it better, who is sharper, and we have to be on our game, obviously, against a great team like them."

Florida earned its third straight trip to the conference final by dominating Game 7 against the Maple Leafs on Sunday, winning 6-1 to improve to 3-0 in Game 7's since 2023.

The Panthers lost Games 1 and 2 against Toronto but rallied to become the seventh defending Stanley Cup championship team in the NHL expansion era (since 1967-68) to win a best-of-7 series after losing the first two games.

Florida also needed five games to eliminate the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round.

The Panthers are second behind the Hurricanes on the penalty kill at 89.5 percent. They lead the League with 17 skaters scoring at least one goal through the first two rounds.

"They're very similar [to us]," Staal said. "I think it's going to be a lot of who does it better. They're a puck pressure team, a forechecking team and they've got a lot of talent, good special teams and they don't beat themselves. It's going to be a fun matchup."

Game breakers

Panthers: Brad Marchand isn't so much a game breaker as he is a game changer, but since the Panthers don't have just one bona fide game breaker, why not go with the 37-year-old forward who has been one heck of a game changer for them during the playoffs. Marchand is tied for the Panthers lead with 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in 12 games. He was all over the ice during Game 7 against Toronto and finished with three points (one goal, two assists), a plus-3 rating and eight shot attempts, three on goal, in 16:02 of ice time. He led the Panthers during the second round with eight points (three goals, five assists) and scored the overtime goal in Game 3 that got Florida started on its comeback after losing Games 1 and 2.

Hurricanes: Andrei Svechnikov has eight goals in 10 playoff games after scoring 20 goals in 72 games during the regular season. He is second in the NHL in goals during the postseason, behind Dallas Stars forward Mikko Rantanen (nine). Svechnikov scored five goals in the first round and three in the second round, including the game-winning goal in Games 3 and 5. He had a hat trick in Game 4 of the first round against New Jersey. He already has doubled his previous career high in goals in a single postseason (four in six games in 2020, four in 14 games in 2022). Svechnikov did not play in the Eastern Conference Final against the Panthers two years ago while recovering from surgery to repair a torn ACL in his right knee.

Goaltending

Panthers: Bobrovsky has been arguably the NHL's best playoff goalie since 2023. He is delivering in a big way for the Panthers again this spring. Bobrovsky is 8-4 with two shutouts, a 2.31 goals-against average and .901 save percentage in 12 games. He came back after a rough first two games against the Maple Leafs to dominate that series, posting a 1.54 GAA and .935 save percentage (eight goals allowed on 123 shots) in Games 3-7. He had a 4.70 GAA and .820 save percentage (nine goals on 50 shots) in Games 1-2. Bobrovsky is 36-18 with a 2.48 GAA, .909 save percentage and five shutouts in 55 playoff games (54 starts) since the start of the 2023 playoffs.

Hurricanes: Frederik Andersen statistically has been the best goalie during the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, going 7-2 with a 1.36 GAA and .937 save percentage in nine games. He missed Game 5 against the Devils because of an undisclosed injury sustained during Game 4. But Andersen leads the League in save percentage and GAA among goalies with at least one start during the playoffs. He has allowed 12 goals in nine games. He also leads the League in high-danger save percentage (.923), according to NHL EDGE Advanced Stats. He stopped 30 of 31 high-danger shots on goal during the second round.

Numbers to know

Panthers: Florida leads the playoffs with 45 goals. It is second in goals-against per game (2.42) and in shots-against per game (23.8). The Panthers have generated a lot of quality chances too. They've scored 23 goals off high-danger shots on goal, according to NHL EDGE stats; the League average during the playoffs is 12.1. They have 82 high-danger shots on goal; the League average is 61.9. Florida's plus-16 goal differential (45-29) is tied with Carolina (34-18) for the best in the playoffs.

Hurricanes: Carolina is tied for the fewest goals-against during the playoffs (18). The other two teams with 18 goals-against are the Minnesota Wild and Montreal Canadiens, each of whom were eliminated in the first round. The Hurricanes are third in shots-against per game (24.0). They are first in the playoffs in percentage of time spent in the offensive zone (46.6 percent), according to NHL EDGE. The League average is 42.2 percent. They have also spent the least amount of time in the defensive zone of any team during the playoffs (34.7 percent); the League average is 39.8 percent. They have 15 players who have scored at least one goal.

They said it

"Every trip [to the Eastern Conference Final] brings different adversity. Obviously we have a great group of guys, experienced guys, hard-working guys, big, hard guys. It's always fun to be part of this group. The guys just matured and experienced. We're going to face another good challenge. Carolina is a great team, also play tight. It's going to be another good challenge, good games for us. We're excited about that." -- Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky

"I don't know that in my 10 years here we've had a team that's the way this one is in terms of every single player being a fit for the way we want to play, being bought in, competing as hard as they can. This group is made to play Carolina Hurricanes hockey. That puts us in a good situation, a good position to win." -- Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky

Will win if …

Panthers: Bobrovsky plays big and the Panthers block a lot of shots. That's exactly what happened in the Eastern Conference Final two years ago, and what needs to happen again for the Panthers this year. The Hurricanes haven't changed their identity. They pressure all over the ice and they send a lot of shots toward the net. In the 2023 series against the Panthers, the Hurricanes averaged 43.5 shots on goal and 88.8 shot attempts per game, but the Panthers blocked 24.8 of those shot attempts per game and Bobrovsky had a .966 save percentage (168 saves on 174 shots). The Panthers have to work to have the puck more this time around, but the Hurricanes are averaging 33.2 shots on goal and 80.3 shot attempts per game during the playoffs. Ballpark those numbers for this series and it again means Bobrovsky will have to play big and the Panthers will need to get in the shooting lanes.

Hurricanes: They do not change their recipe for success. It's going to be hard against the Panthers, who will present the Hurricanes their stiffest test so far during the playoffs when it comes to sustaining possession time in the offensive zone and winning puck battles all over the ice. But it's also that simple of a formula for the Hurricanes: apply pressure on the Panthers in all three zones, put a lot of pucks at the net, finish on enough of their Grade A chances, and have Andersen bail them out when a breakdown happens and the Grade A's go against them. That's how they advanced past the Devils and Capitals. It's the only way they know how to play and it's what needs to happen for the Hurricanes to get past the Panthers too.

How they look

Panthers projected lineup

Evan Rodrigues -- Aleksander Barkov -- Sam Reinhart

Carter Verhaeghe -- Sam Bennett -- Matthew Tkachuk

Eetu Luostarinen -- Anton Lundell -- Brad Marchand

A.J. Greer -- Tomas Nosek -- Jonah Gadjovich

Gustav Forsling -- Aaron Ekblad

Niko Mikkola -- Seth Jones

Nate Schmidt -- Dmitry Kulikov

Sergei Bobrovsky

Vitek Vanecek

Scratched: Jaycob Megna, Uvis Balinskis, Mackie Samoskevich, Nico Sturm, Jesper Boqvist

Injured: None

Hurricanes projected lineup

Andrei Svechnikov -- Sebastian Aho -- Seth Jarvis

Taylor Hall -- Jack Roslovic -- Logan Stankoven

Jordan Martinook -- Jordan Staal -- William Carrier

Eric Robinson -- Jesperi Kotkaniemi -- Jackson Blake

Jaccob Slavin -- Brent Burns

Dmitry Orlov -- Sean Walker

Alexander Nikishin -- Shayne Gostisbehere

Frederik Andersen

Pyotr Kochetkov

Scratched: Tyson Jost, Riley Stillman, Juha Jaaska, Scott Morrow, Ty Smith, Spencer Martin

Injured: Jalen Chatfield (undisclosed), Mark Jankowski (undisclosed)