RECAP: Panthers 5, Hurricanes 3

RALEIGH, N.C. – Aleksander Barkov is him.

He’s also heading back to the Stanley Cup Final for the third straight season.

Taking a late lead on an incredible play from their superstar captain, the Florida Panthers are once again champions of the Eastern Conference after clawing their way back from an early deficit in a 5-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 5 on Wednesday at Lenovo Center.

Tied 3-3 in the third period, Barkov shrugged off a defender, went to the net and slipped a pass through the slot onto the stick of Carter Verhaeghe, who roofed a shot to make it 4-3.

“Big players make big plays at the biggest moments when you need them,” forward Sam Reinhart said. “He’s certainly the leader of this team, and we needed him big tonight.”

An impressive feat, Florida is just the second team in the NHL’s salary cap era to reach the Stanley Cup Final in three straight seasons, joining the Tampa Bay Lightning (2020-2022).

“It’s hard to do. You very rarely see it,” forward Matthew Tkachuk said. “Very proud of the group. I think I’ve got to give a lot of credit to the new guys, whether they’ve been here the whole year or a bit of the year. This is nothing against the guys that aren’t here, but we needed that fresh blood, that fresh energy, the guys that are hungry. We’re obviously hungry coming back, but you get those new guys that help put you over the edge at this point.”

In many ways, it was that hunger that helped the Panthers stay alive in Game 5.

After intercepting a puck in the neutral zone, Sebastian Aho beat Sergei Bobrovsky on a breakaway to open the scoring and put the Hurricanes up 1-0 at 4:39 of the first period.

Missing out on two chances to tie things up, the Panthers came up empty on two power plays in the period, firing no shots on goal over their four minutes with the extra attacker.

Later, the power play would get a chance at redemption.

Capitalizing off another turnover in the neutral zone, Aho doubled the lead for Carolina when he fired a shot from the right circle into the back of the net to make it 2-0 at 18:54.

Losing a key player, Eetu Luostarinen missed his last shift of the first period and did not return for the Panthers after crashing into the end boards while trying to finish a check.

"He should be fine,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “I'm not a doctor."

Getting the Panthers on the board, Tkachuk cut the deficit in half in the second period when he tipped in a shot from Aaron Ekblad on the power play to make it 2-1 at 7:23.

Prior to the goal, Barkov made a fantastic play to keep the puck in the zone.

Just 30 seconds later, Evan Rodrigues evened the score when he finished off and give-and-go by depositing a tape-to-tape centering feed from Sam Bennett to make it 2-2 at 7:53.

With the goal, Rodrigues became Florida’s 19^th different scorer this postseason.

Only eight teams in NHL history have had more unique goal scorers in a single playoffs.

Finishing off a pretty play to give the Panthers the lead, Anton Lundell won a faceoff in the offensive zone, dashed straight to the net and tipped in a perfect feed from Brad Marchand straight over Frederik Andersen’s glove to make it 3-2 at 11:59.

“Aleksander Barkov got us going,” Marchand said of the team’s scoring spree in the second period. “On our power play, he made a great pinch on the wall, kept the puck in, and the guys went to work from there. They did a great job getting the puck to the net, and then Chucky gets a stick on it. That was huge for us, and then we just kind of carried on that momentum."

Keeping the Hurricanes from tying things up, the Panthers came up with a crucial penalty kill late in the second period, surrendering just two shots on goal to Carolina’s power play.

Bringing the building back to life, Seth Jarvis found a loose puck in the slot and sent it past Bobrovsky to make it 3-3 at 8:30 of the third period and wipe the slate clean once again.

Enter Mr. Clutch.

Netting what would hold up as his 12^th career game-winning goal in the playoffs – a franchise record – Verhaeghe roofed a pass from Barkov to put Florida up 4-3 at 12:21.

Setting up the play, Barkov went full beast mode on a defender before dishing the puck

“It seems like he’s always in the right spot,” Tkachuk said of Verhaeghe, who’s scored the series-clinching goal three times for the Panthers. “It was a great play by both his linemates to start, and then obviously he has the nose for the right areas. It was a great shot.”

Of course, a series-clinching game is never without drama.

After a slashing penalty on the Panthers, the Hurricanes went to the power play with three minutes left on the clock and a chance to find the tying goal and keep their season alive.

But the champs had other plans.

Standing tall throughout the entire two minutes behind some big saves from Bobrovsky, the Panthers kept their lead intact and then added to it when Bennett flew out of the box and sent the puck into Carolina’s empty net to make it 5-3 with 54 seconds left in regulation.

Winning the special teams battle, Florida finished 6-for-6 on the penalty kill.

“We have done it so many times, and we had the confidence that we were going to do it this time as well,” Bobrovsky, who finished with 20 saves, said of the final penalty kill. “Again, the guys compete, guys were hard. In the second period, there was also lots of power plays for them. The guys were strong and kept them on the outside. It’s a solid performance by us.”

When the final buzzer sounded and the Panthers had yet again cemented their place in the Stanley Cup Final, players didn't throw any of their gear in the air, jump for joy or even do anything out of the ordinary.

They simply hugged Bobrovsky, went through the handshake line and took their photo with the Prince of Wales Trophy – not touching it, of course – before heading straight off the ice.

Sure, they’ll enjoy the win to an extent.

But there’s a bigger trophy they want.

“The bigger picture has changed maybe a little bit for our team,” Maurice said. “The first time, you fight to get to the Final and it’s such a big deal. Then you do it a couple of time and you understand you’re three quarters of the way through and there’s a lot more that has to happen. But we’ll enjoy that win tonight. It was all the elements that make our sport great.”

THEY SAID IT

“From the start of the year, 31 teams go home unhappy. We’re trying to be the last one and the one team that’s happy at the end.” – Sam Reinhart

“I remember a few years ago it felt like such an accomplishment from where we were at that point. I know we talked about last year that it’s part of the journey, same as this year. It’s all business. We’ve got a bigger goal in mind.” – Matthew Tkachuk

“It’s exciting. You hope that you get to this point. Obviously, we have a great and we’ve played well so far. We’ve got to the point where we want to be, but we haven’t accomplished anything yet.” – Brad Marchand

CATS STATS

- The Panthers are the fifth team over the past 30 years with a multi-goal comeback win to clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup Final.

- Sam Bennett is the first player in the NHL to reach the 10-goal mark this postseason.

- The Panthers are the ninth franchise in NHL history to make three straight trips to the Stanley Cup Final.

- Brad Marchand is the fourth active NHL player to record 25 career points in potential series-clinching games.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Now, we wait.

With their next opponent still unknown, the Panthers will either have a rematch with the Edmonton Oilers or face the Dallas Stars in the Stanley Cup Final.

The Oilers currently lead the Stars 3-1 in the Western Conference Final.

Stay tuned.