Boqvist sparks Panthers' 3rd-period surge in Game 3 of Eastern Conference Final

SUNRISE, Fla. – Jesper Boqvist provided the spark, and the scoring explosion that followed propelled the Florida Panthers to the brink of another trip to the Stanley Cup Final.

Boqvist’s highlight-reel goal snapped a tie and began a run of five straight third-period goals for the Panthers in a 6-2 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.

Leading 3-0 in the best-of-7 series after outscoring the Hurricanes 16-4 in the first three games, the Panthers can advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the third consecutive season with another win at home in Game 4 on Monday (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).

Florida, which lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2023 Cup Final before defeating the Edmonton Oilers to win the Stanley Cup last season, is trying to become the first team to repeat as Stanley Cup champions since the Tampa Bay Lightning won in 2020 and 2021.

“A lot of work yet to do,” Boqvist said. “We enjoy this one but turn the page tomorrow and look forward to the next game.”

Boqvist was only playing because Sam Reinhart was out with a lower-body injury he sustained in the first period of Florida’s 5-0 win in Game 2 at Carolina on Thursday. The 26-year-old slid seamlessly into Reinhart’s spot at right wing on the top line with left wing Evan Rodrigues and center Aleksander Barkov and had a goal and two assists, all during Florida’s five-goal outburst in the third period.

“Kudos to him, right?” Rodrigues said. “He’s a smart player and he can play with good players. Not playing in a week, he did a great job of staying ready, staying in shape and steps right in and makes an immediate impact.”

The Hurricanes had played their best period of the series in the second, tying the score at 1-1 when Logan Stankoven knocked in a rebound for a power-play goal at 14:51. With Carolina poised to potentially take its first lead of the series in the third, however, Florida flexed its championship muscle by scoring five times in a span of 9:08.

It started with Boqvist’s individual effort goal that snapped a 1-1 tie 1:29 into the third period. Carolina’s Taylor Hall turned the puck over to Florida defenseman Aaron Ekblad at the red line and he pushed it ahead to Rodrigues, who made a backhand touch pass to Boqvist to send him in over the blue line with speed.

Boqvist turned Hurricanes defenseman Dmitry Orlov around as he pulled the puck to his backhand to cut across the slot around Orlov on his right before sliding a backhand in between goalie Pyotr Kochetkov’s pads.

“Good gap by our D, good touch by ‘Roddy’ and then speed, speed,” Boqvist said. “I kind of just tried to take him a little bit wide and it worked this time for sure.”

That opened the floodgates after the Hurricanes pushed the Panthers as hard as they have in the series in the second period.

“Huge play by him,” Panthers forward Brad Marchand said of Boqvist. “It just allows you to settle in and get comfortable. Once they tied it up, it’s one of those things that anything can happen. You get a lucky bounce and then they get the lead. But we just did a great job after that of locking it down and getting back to our game.

“But it gave us the confidence to continue to build.”

Defenseman Niko Mikkola scored his second of the game by finishing a 3-on-2 rush at 6:26 to make it 3-1 and continue the growing snowball for Florida. Orlov turned the puck over to Matthew Tkachuk, who fed Barkov to make it 4-1 at 6:55 and Barkov scored again when his pass from the left circle intended for Rodrigues deflected in off the stick of Carolina defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere in front at 9:31.

Marchand completed the scoring surge by finishing a 2-on-1 with Anton Lundell to increase the Panthers’ lead to 6-1 at 10:37.

“We knew we needed to be a little better than we were in the second period,” Barkov said. “We tried to keep things simple, and I think got rewarded. Huge goal by Jesper there, kind of an individual effort there, but after that I think we kept things simple and got the pucks deep and created from there.”

The Panthers insisted that this series is much closer than the individual games and aggregate score might seem to indicate. But when the Hurricanes showed some of the relentless forecheck that they had so much success with in the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Panthers flipped the switch and reminded everyone they have another level, too.

“It’s so much closer than you think and if it wasn’t in one game, it doesn’t matter because when they come back at you and they play the first two periods the way they were played, that’s a tight game, and that’s what we would expect,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “So, going into the third, we’re not thinking it’s going to change. You’re looking for a break and then once you get to two and three, once you get to 2-1, the game has to open up for them, and they’re dangerous with that game. They’re good at it. And at 3-1, then the game has to open up.”

Florida has two days before Game 4 to think about taking the final step to get back to the Cup Final again. Having learned from letting a 3-0 series lead slip away against the Oilers before winning the Cup Final in seven games last season, the Panthers insist they’re not looking too far ahead.

“Just one day at a time,” Barkov said. “Right now, we just need to focus on recovery and getting as much rest as possible and then tomorrow, the next day, we concentrate on the game. That’s about it. We live a day at a time.”