Panthers focused on task at hand with 3rd straight Cup Final on horizon

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- No one needs to tell the Florida Panthers their job is not finished.

With a chance to punch a ticket to the Stanley Cup Final on home ice for the third straight season, the Panthers are undoubtedly pleased with their position heading into Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).

But as much as they have dominated the Hurricanes, the Panthers learned a year ago on their way to winning their first Stanley Cup championship that closing out a best-of-7 series can be challenging. Florida won the first three games of the Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers but lost 8-1 in Game 4 and dropped the next two games before rebounding with a 2-1 victory in Game 7.

“That’s part of our collective experience, understanding what a Game 4 feels like when you’re up three (and) the value of being in the series in each game mentally the same way regardless of the game count,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said Sunday. “It gives you just a place to process the game, a place to keep your mind so you’re not looking at each game as so completely different than the next so you get a bit more consistency maybe mentally.

“You stay a little tighter with your own thoughts about how we’re going to have to play.”

There are plenty of reasons for Florida to be confident after winning the first three games against Carolina by a combined 16-4, including 6-2 in Game 3 on Saturday. The Panthers pride themselves on remaining levelheaded, though.

That comes from the experience of reaching the Cup Final in 2023 before losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in five games. They applied the lessons they learned in 2023 while going through the long playoff journey again last season, and this season they are aware of the troubles they had finishing off the Oilers, when they avoided becoming the second team in NHL history to lose in the Cup Final after winning the first three games (the Detroit Red Wings against the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1942).

“It’s a seven-game series,” said Florida forward Matthew Tkachuk, who had two assists Saturday and has five points (one goal, four assists) in the conference final. “We won three, but it doesn’t take three to win a series. That’s the simplest answer I’ve got for you. It takes four and we need one more. It’s the hardest one to win.

“They’re going to be ready, and I know we will as well.”

If the Panthers don’t want to dwell on the negative of how they nearly let the Cup slip from their grasp against the Oilers last season, they have positive examples from their recent past of how they were able to turn series around after falling behind. They trailed the Boston Bruins 3-1 in the first round in 2023 and rallied to win that series in seven games. In the second round this season, they lost the first two games to the Maple Leafs and trailed 3-1 in Game 3 before winning that series in seven.

“We’ve just got to stay humble and go game by game,” forward Eetu Luostarinen said. “Yeah, even this year, we were down in the series (against Toronto), and it takes a lot of work and we know it is possible. So, we’ve just got to be ready for the next game.”

Florida insists the series hasn’t been as lopsided as the scores might indicate, particularly Game 3, which was tied 1-1 entering the third period. After falling behind in the first period for the third straight game, Carolina played its best period of the series in the second and tied it on Logan Stankoven’s power-play goal.

The Hurricanes might’ve led heading into the third period if not for goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who made nine of his 23 saves in the second. But the Panthers were far from flustered. They regrouped during the second intermission and pushed back by scoring five consecutive goals in a span of 9:08 in the third, beginning with Jesper Boqvist's goal at 1:29, to pull away.

“It was a tight game last night and it could’ve gone either way,” said forward Carter Verhaeghe, who also has five points (one goal, four assists) in the conference final. “They had some good opportunities. But I think going into the third, we’re comfortable in tight games, being tied or better or down a goal and that’s kind of how our team is built. We’re really comfortable in those situations.

“We’ve been in a lot of them before in the past.”

Having also been in this situation before, leading 3-0 in the series, gives the Panthers a calm confidence that they know what it takes to complete the task at hand. Although it is exciting to consider another trip to the Cup Final and the history they’re making -- they would join the Tampa Bay Lightning (2020-2022) as only the second team to make three consecutive Cup Final appearances since the New York Islanders’ run of five in a row (1980-1984) -- those are things to be savored only after the fourth win of the series is secured.

The Panthers hope to do that in Game 4, but they know it sometimes takes until Game 7.

“That’s our mindset going into every series that we’re going to play seven games and there’s no other way to do it,” Verhaeghe said. “If you start thinking about the future or anything like that, it can come back to (haunt) you. So, that’s our mindset every series and we like that.”