Panthers show playoff pedigree with win against Hurricanes in Game 1 of East Final

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Florida Panthers clearly know how to win in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

They captured the Stanley Cup last season in their second straight trip to the Cup Final.

They are in the Eastern Conference Final for the third straight season. They win at home. They win on the road. All they seem to do is win.

”We love to win. That’s why we are here,” forward Sam Bennett said. “That’s why we put in all these hours, that’s why we do the hard things that are necessary to win. It’s because we love it so much, and we have one goal in mind.”

All the things that make them such a winning team were on full display in their 5-2 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final at Lenovo Center on Tuesday.

Start with the obvious: They are battle tested. Since the beginning of the 2023 playoffs, they have played 58 postseason games, 10 more than the next closest team, the Edmonton Oilers. They are 38-20, including an impressive 21-10 record on the road.

Two days after a dominating 6-1 win at the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Second Round, here they were in one of the loudest buildings in the League, getting back to business. There was no hangover, no sign of fatigue, this against a team that hadn’t played in five days.

“It was kind of a quick turnaround, but I like it, you just keep going, keep playing,” said goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, another big key to their winning formula.

He made 31 saves in Game 1, helping quiet what was a raucous crowd to start the game. Perhaps his biggest saves came in the first period with Florida up 2-0, stopping Sebastian Aho on a breakaway with 4:46 left before denying a shot in the slot from Seth Jarvis nine seconds later.

“He just keeps impressing us,” Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said. “He gives us a chance to win every single night, and he’s there for us all the time, and we feel really comfortable with him in the net.”

They are talented and deep. Sure, they have stars like forwards Matthew Tkachuk, Barkov, Sam Reinhart and Brad Marchand, but they also have players like forwards Carter Verhaeghe, Bennett, defenseman Niko Mikkola, and, on this night, forward A.J. Greer, who can burn you at any moment.

A perfect example of this came early in the second period.

With Carolina trailing 2-1 and seemingly riding the momentum of Aho’s goal with 15.7 left in the first period, the Panthers’ fourth line turned the game around with a highlight-reel play usually reserved for players in the top six.

Mikkola scooped up a loose puck behind his own net and flipped it up to teammate Jonah Gadjovich on the half wall. Gadjovich quickly flipped it to center Tomas Nosek, who had a head of steam going into the neutral zone. Before the Hurricanes could blink, Nosek was not only over their blue line, but so were Mikkola and Greer. Nosek backhanded a pass to Mikkola who headed toward the net, was able to get the puck around Hurricanes defenseman Scott Morrow and slide it over to Greer, who banged home a one-timer. Just like that it was a two-goal game again.

“Our depth has been incredible all year,” Bennett said, “especially in the playoffs. Every line showing up, all our defense, ‘Bobby,’ it really has been a full team effort every single night. And it makes it a lot easier when you have every guy stepping up.

“Kudos to really every single guy for stepping up.”

A total of 11 Florida skaters had at least one point on Tuesday, with Nosek, Evan Rodrigues (two assists each) and Verhaeghe (one goal, one assist) getting two points each.

“We have depth guys that are scoring and our big boys are scoring but they are defending well,” Greer said. “I have plenty of faith in our depth.”

They are opportunistic. With the game still within reach, Morrow took a delay of game penalty at 4:31 of the third period, flipping the puck from his own end, all the way across the rink and into the crowd. One minute and 37 seconds later, Bennett scored on the power play and just like that it was 4-1 and the crowd of 18,944 that had come here to party was silenced.

And what perhaps makes the Panthers the most dangerous is they are never satisfied.

“I didn’t love our game tonight, but I understood it. Significant style change," coach Paul Maurice said. "Game 1 is that first look at what your game looks like in a completely different opponent. So we will have to continue to build that game and get better.”

So will the Hurricanes, who have now lost 13 straight games in the conference final -- including five straight to Florida -- dating back to 2009. Doing it against the Panthers won’t be easy.

“They played a great game, you've got to tip your hat. But we created a bunch of turnovers and had a couple almosts,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “That's the game. They're trying to forecheck us and they probably put more pucks (deep) than we did tonight and they put more stress on us than we did on them.

“That's how they play it. That's why they're, you know, they're the best and we're trying to beat it.”