Sam Bennett had two goals and an assist, Sergei Bobrovsky made 17 saves, and the Florida Panthers suffocated the Carolina Hurricanes defensively in a 5-0 win in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Thursday.
Bobrovsky’s shutout was his League-leading third of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which is also a Panthers record for the most in a playoff year.
Following a 5-2 win in Game 1 on Tuesday, Florida leads 2-0 in the best-of-7 series and is two wins away from reaching the Stanley Cup Final for the third consecutive season. The Panthers defeated the Edmonton Oilers in the Cup Final last season after losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2023 Cup Final.
On the negative side for Florida, forward Sam Reinhart did not play the last two periods after sustaining a lower-body injury on a hit from Sebastian Aho.
The Panthers scored on three of their first five shots to jump out to a 3-0 lead in the first period. Gustav Forsling’s goal that opened the scoring 1:17 into the game was Florida’s NHL-leading 13th from a defenseman in the playoffs. Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and an assist, and Carter Verhaeghe had three assists for the Panthers, who improved to 7-2 on the road in the playoffs.
Aaron Ekblad and Evan Rodrigues each had two assists.
The Hurricanes entered the night averaging 33.2 shots on goal in the playoffs but managed only seven in the first two periods.
Frederik Andersen allowed four goals on 16 shots for the Hurricanes before being replaced by Pyotr Kochetkov (four saves) to begin the third period.
Teams that take a 2-0 lead in a best-of-7 series are 359-58 (.861) all-time, including 6-2 in the 2025 playoffs. Florida is 6-0 when winning the first two games of a best-of-7 series, including 3-0 when the series begins on the road.
What we learned: After the Panthers swept the Hurricanes in the 2023 Eastern Conference Final by winning four one-goal games, including two that went to overtime, some were expecting another tight series. However, the defending Stanley Cup champions have been the superior team through the first two games. Florida has had no problems solving Andersen, who has allowed nine goals on 36 shots in the first two games after giving up just six goals on 95 shots in five games in the second round against the Washington Capitals. Bobrovsky had a much easier night following a 31-save performance in Game 1, but he has given the Panthers a big advantage in net. He has allowed two goals in the first two games and just six in his past six games overall. Florida has also scored four goals on the man-advantage in the first two games (4-for-5) after Carolina yielded just two power-play goals in the first two rounds.
What this means for the Panthers: Florida heads home in a commanding position, two wins from another trip to the Cup Final. Now, the Panthers want to bring their road game back to Amerant Bank Arena. As dominant as they have been on the road in the playoffs, outscoring their opponents 22-4 in their past four road games (all wins), they have been more vulnerable at home, going 3-2.
What this means for the Hurricanes: They have to clear their minds and forget that they’ve lost 14 straight games in the conference final: four to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009, four to the Boston Bruins in 2019, and six straight to the Panthers. After having some positives to point to in Game 1, Carolina had few in Game 2, so it needs to find a way to start strong on the road, where it is 3-2 this postseason, and get a lead. The Hurricanes have been chasing the Panthers since the first period of Game 1.
Key moment: With the Panthers leading 2-0 and on the power play with 4:30 remaining in the first period, the Hurricanes had a chance to get back in the game on a short-handed rush. However, Bobrovsky made a right pad save on Jordan Martinook’s shot from the slot, and Florida went down the ice and increased its lead to 3-0 on a deflection from Bennett 20 seconds later.
Unsung player of the game: Fourth-line forward Jonah Gadjovich had six of Florida’s 56 hits and blocked two shots, making the most of his 9:54 of ice time.
What's next: The series shifts to Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida, for Game 3 on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC) and Game 4 on Monday.
