SUNRISE, Fla. – The Florida Panthers will try to push the Carolina Hurricanes to the brink of elimination in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.
Taking control of the series, the Panthers won Games 1 and 2 on the road by combined score of 10-2.
Knowing what to expect, Florida faced its own 2-0 deficit in Round 2 against Toronto.
“We know they’re going to play desperate,” said forward Sam Bennett, who scored a pair of goals in Game 2 to increase his playoff total to a team-high nine. “This is a big game where you’ve got to put it all on the line. We know what it feels like. We’re definitely prepared.”
Following a 5-2 win in Game 1, the Panthers cruised to a 5-0 win in Game 2.
Knowing the Hurricanes would want to come out with their best effort of the series, the Panthers instead made sure they were aggressors in the first period on Thursday, racing out to a 3-0 lead on goals from Gustav Forsling, Matthew Tkachuk and Bennett.
Earning his first multi-goal game of the playoffs, Bennett, who funds pet adoptions every time he lights the lamp, added another goal in the second period to make it 4-0, and then Aleksander Barkov cashed in on the power play in the third period to lock in the 5-0 final.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 17 saves for his third shutout of the playoffs, setting a new franchise record.
Over his last six appearances, he’s gone 5-1 with a .958 save percentage.
“He’s incredible every night,” Bennett said of his goaltender. “His composure in the net and his focus -- game in, game out -- he’s always dialed in. He makes the big save when he needs to and gives our team so much life, so much momentum. Yeah, we love Bobby.”
No escaping Raleigh unscathed, the Panthers will be without Sam Reinhart in Game 3.
Dealing with a lower-body injury, the high-scoring forward exited Game 2 late in the first period after taking a low hit from Sebastian Aho as he entered the zone on the power play.
Reinhart led the Panthers in goals (39) and points (81) during the regular season.
“We’ve had a lot of experience, not necessarily with losing Reino, but up and down the lineup losing guys,” defenseman Aaron Ekblad said of Reinhart, who is considered day to day. “It’s never easy, but it’s a team effort. The next-man-up mentality has always been there for us.”
With Reinhart out, Jesper Boqvist will re-enter the lineup and take his spot on the top line.
A strong forechecker, Boqvist’s 22.52 hits per 60 minutes ranks third on the Panthers.
“He can jump in and there’s no lag in his game,” head coach Paul Maurice said of Boqvist, who scored a career-high 12 goals in the regular season. “He doesn’t have to get used to a series. There’s lots of maturity to what he does. He played with Barky (Aleksander Barkov) last time, and he’ll switch over and play the other side tonight.”
For the Hurricanes, they’ll need to bust out of an historic streak to get back in the series.
As it stands, they’ve lost 14 straight games in the Eastern Conference Final.
For a team built on the idea of possession, the Hurricanes couldn’t seem to get dialed in during Game 2 as Florida’s forecheck continues to create pressure and force turnovers.
Through the first two periods, they trailed 15-6 in shots and had just 0.58 expected goals.
Entering the series with a league-leading .937 save percentage in the playoffs, Frederik Andersen has seen that number dip down to .907 after two games against the Panthers.
In Game 2, Andersen was pulled after giving up four goals on 16 shots.
Per reports from Carolina's morning skate, backup Pyotr Kochetkov will get the nod in net for Game 3.
Seth Jarvis leads the Hurricanes with two points (both assists) in the series, while Aho and Jackson Blake are the only two players that have managed to find the back of the net.
Entering the series with a team-high eight goals, Andrei Svechnikov has recorded just one shot.
A do-or-die game for Carolina, teams that have started a playoff series at home and fallen behind 3-0 have gone on to win the series just one time in 57 occurrences in NHL history.
“It’s just focus and experience and not changing you’re routine,” Ekblad said of not letting comfortable with a 2-0 series lead. “At the end of the day, you approach every game like it’s do-or-die for yourself. We know and we’ve been in these situations.”
THEY SAID IT
“We don’t change the way we prepare for games from regular-season games to playoff games to Game 7 games. We’re always joking around. Even before Game 7, there’s just as many chirps and jokes going around before that game. – Sam Bennett on staying loose in big games
“After you see it up close, you realize there’s a reason for it. He competes so hard every day. He’s probably the most dedicated player that I’ve ever played with.” – Brad Marchand on Sergei Bobrovsky
“We’re in a good spot coming back home and playing in front of our fans. Just stay humble. Play like we have been playing.” – Eetu Luostarinen on Game 3
FIVE CATS STATS
- Sam Bennett leads Florida in shots (42) and hits (72) this postseason.
- Matthew Tkachuk has earned at least a point in six straight Eastern Conference Final games against the Hurricanes.
- Carter Verhaeghe leads Florida with four points (3G, 1A) at home in the playoffs.
- Aleksander Barkov is on a three-game point streak.
- The Panthers rank first in the playoffs with an 88.9% success rate on the penalty kil.
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Forwards
Evan Rodrigues – Aleksander Barkov – Jesper Boqvist
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Brad Marchand
A.J. Greer – Tomas Nosek – Jonah Gadjovich
Defensemen
Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones
Nate Schmidt – Dmitry Kulikov
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Vitek Vanecek
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
When: Saturday, May 24 at 8 p.m. ET
Where: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
TV: TNT, Max, SN, CBC, TVAS
Radio: 560 WQAM (Dade/Broward); 92.1 WZZR-FM & 1230 WBZT-AM (Palm Beach); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); Panthers App; SiriusXM Channel 220 / App & Streaming 931
Tickets: Click Here
