RECAP: Panthers outlast Hurricanes, win 4OT thriller in Game 1

RALEIGH, N.C. --I posed a simple question in the article previewing this series.

What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?

Well, we now know what happens: four overtimes.

Putting an end to the sixth-longest game in Stanley Cup Playoffs history, Matthew Tkachuk scored at 19:47 of the fourth installment of overtime to lift the Florida Panthers to a 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final at PNC Arena.

The puck dropped on Thursday, but the game ended just before 2 a.m. ET on Friday.

"Probably my favorite [goal] I've scored in my life," said Tkachuk, who leads the Panthers with 17 points (six goals, 11 assists) in the playoffs. "It was big to not let it go to five overtimes there."

But how does someone's body feel after enduring a game like that?

"Definitely tired," smiled Tkachuk. "But I think you're less tired when you win."

After coming up empty on a 5-on-3 power play late in the first period, the Hurricanes converted on their subsequent 5-on-4 advantage when Seth Jarvis hammered home a one-timer from the slot past Sergei Bobrovsky to open up the scoring and make it 1-0 at 19:48.

With shots hard to come by in the second period for both teams, the Panthers finally broke through when Aleksander Barkov collected a sweet centering feed from Anthony Duclair and ripped a laser past Frederik Andersen from the left circle to even things up at 1-1 at 15:28.

Taking that newfound momentum -- and with the top line absolutely cooking -- the Panthers grabbed the lead soon after when scoring machine Carter Verhaeghe curled into the center of the right circle and snapped a shot into the back of the twine to make it 2-1 at 17:43.

Strong on defense as well as offense, Florida surrendered just five shots on goal in the period.

Getting yet another power play in the third period, the Hurricanes pulled even when Stefan Noesen finished off a picturesque tic-tac-toe passing sequence by taking a quick dish from Jarvis and beating Bobrovsky from the right side of the net to get the game to 2-2 at 3:47.

"That's a great team over there," Tkachuk said of the Hurricanes, who entered the matchup with a 5-1 record at home during the postseason. "I hope you guys and everybody else enjoyed that game because, from what I'm seeing, it's two really good teams fighting it out for every inch."

Just past the midway point of the period, Bobrovsky sprawled out to stone Martin Necas on a breakaway with a clutch left-pad save. Not done there, the star goaltender then stretched out his glove while down on his belly to bat away a passing attempt and negate a follow-up opportunity.

With the action eventually getting to overtime, the Panthers appeared to win the game -- and celebrated like they had -- when Ryan Lomberg beat Andersen with a shot from the slot. But after a review, the goal was overturned when officials deemed that there was goaltender interference on the play.

Per the NHL's official explanation, "Florida's Colin White had a significant presence in the crease and made incidental contact with goaltender Frederik Andersen that impaired his ability to play."

In the end, that decision ended up just delaying the same result.

Like, really, really delaying it.

In the second overtime, each team fired off 10 shots on goal to no avail. Jordan Staal had arguably the best look of the period, but was denied on a wrap-around attempt when Bobrovsky saved the day for the Panthers by sliding to his left just in time to pin the puck to the post.

With sanity starting to slip for those of us in the press box, the Panthers carried most of the play throughout the third overtime and led 11-8 in shots on goal. But Andersen still wouldn't budge, including making a game-saving stop on Montour to keep the Hurricanes in the fight.

Facing a tough task in the fourth overtime, the Panthers successfully killed off a power play for the Hurricanes before once again going on the offensive. Finally rewarded, Tkachuk took a pass from Sam Bennett and beat Andersen from the right circle for the 3-2 win at 19:47.

The backbone for the Panthers throughout the marathon, Bobrovsky finished with 63 saves -- including stopping all 34 shots he faced in overtime -- to set a new franchise playoff record.

With every single player chipping in to get the crucial series-opening win, Tkachuk began his post-game media availability by first looking down at the scoresheet in front of him and taking full stock.

"So many great contributions from everybody," Tkachuk said as he stared at the lofty numbers. "Just looking at this sheet quickly, Monty played almost 60 minutes. Barky took, like, 1,000 draws. We're not even in overtime if Bob doesn't make that save on the breakaway in the third. Bob played great and everybody followed. It was a full team effort for two games basically."

CATS QUOTES

"It kind of becomes the game of attrition. You're just trying to be patient and wait for the moment and for the shot. Just one shot at a time. You don't think too much ahead. You stay with the moment and try to do the best to keep the puck out of the net." - Sergei Bobrovsky on navigating a four-overtime game as a goaltender

"It's very cool, and very cool to be on the winning side of that. You've got to tip your cap to how both teams played. Fourth overtime and guys are blocking shots and diving to get pucks out. I don't even know how many blocked shots there were on both sides." - Matthew Tkachuk on what it felt like to win one of the longest playoff games in NHL history

"We have a team performance group. We have a team that's in the weight room that trains hard and practices hard. The confidence even coming into the game, everybody understand that at Hour 2 nobody feels good. But the group has confidence in their ability to push." - Paul Maurice on the conditioning of the his players

"You don't just let it go. You grind all the way until the end. We had a lot of good chances in overtime, and Chucky had an unreal shot."- Aleksander Barkov on the team's mentality as the overtimes piled up

"We're ready to rehydrate, get to bed and do it again." - Ryan Lomberg on getting ready for Game 2

CATS NOTES

• The Panthers recorded their fifth comeback win of the playoffs.

• The Panthers are the third team in NHL history to win each of their first five games that required overtime in a single postseason.

• The Panthers are just the eighth team in Stanley Cup Playoffs history to win seven straight games on the road.

• Matthew Tkachuk scored his second overtime goal in the playoffs.

• Brandon Montour led the Panthers with a staggering 57:27 of ice time.

• Aleksander Barkov won a game-high 30 faceoffs.

• Radko Gudas blocked six shots and dished out a team-leading 12 hits.

• Anthony Duclair tallied two assists.

• Ever player on the Panthers recorded at least one shot on goal.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Panthers and Hurricanes will get all the rest they can before meeting up again for a hopefully much shorter Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.

But if four overtimes is what it takes to win every game, we'll take it.