preview game 5 16x9

RALEIGH, N.C. – Take two.

With a second chance to advance to their third straight Stanley Cup Final, the Florida Panthers will try to eliminate the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center on Wednesday.

Missing out on a chance to sweep their way into the final round, the defending champs fell short in a 3-0 loss to the Hurricanes in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final on Monday.

Following losses this postseason, the Panthers have gone 3-1.

“We always have a ton of belief,” forward Matthew Tkachuk said. “It’s our preparation that allows us to have that belief. We have to go out there and execute tonight. We’ve got to get back to our game. We have to be physical, and we have to be fast. We can’t be looking to break anything open. We’ll earn our opportunities when they’re there. Just be hard.”

The Panthers will also benefit from some reinforcements in Game 5 as Sam Reinhart, Niko Mikkola and A.J. Greer are all expected to suit up after working their way back from injuries.

Reinhart has been out of action since suffering a lower-body injury early in Game 2, while Mikkola and Greer both left the ice in the third period of Game 3 with undisclosed injuries.

“They’re all different kind of leaders,” head coach Paul Maurice said of the trio. “Sam in his the preparation and the mental part of the game; Niko’s got an intensity that he brings to our room and the bench with the game that he plays; A.J.’s a really fast, physical player.”

After winning seven of their last eight games, the Panthers couldn’t muster much in the offensive end in Game 5 as the Hurricanes held them to just 31 shot attempts at 5-on-5.

But even with the goals hard to come by -- and players admitting they were just moving the puck a bit too slow -- the Panthers kept it a one-goal game until very late in the third period.

With the Hurricanes up 1-0 on a snipe from Logan Stankoven in the second period, the Panthers surrendered two empty-net goals while trying to come back late in regulation.

Keeping Florida within striking distances, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 25 of 26 shots.

Despite the series shifting back to Raleigh, the Panthers actually thrive on the road.

Owning a 7-2 record, they’ve outscored the opposition 43-18 on the road this postseason, including winning both Games 1 and 2 at Lenovo Center by a combined score of 11-2.

Eetu Luostarinen leads the Panthers with 12 points (four goals, eight assists) on the road, while Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand have each logged 10 points. On a scoring tear, Bennett also paces the team in both road goals (8) and total goals (9) this postseason.

In net, Bobrovsky boasts a .919 save percentage in nine road starts.

“It’s awesome,” defenseman Gustav Forsling said of being on the road. “We love spending time with each other. We’re having a lot of fun at the hotel and down here. It’s great to get the group together. Us against the world, it’s that kind of feeling. It’s great.”

For the Hurricanes, Sebastian Aho and Stankoven have each scored two goals in this series, while Seth Jarvis has racked up a team-high four points (one goal, three assists).

After watching Game 3 from the bench, Frederik Andersen returned to action and also to form in Game 4, stopping all 20 shots he faced to record his second shutout of the playoffs.

That said, the Panthers didn’t test Andersen much as he faced only two high-danger shots.

A big reason for Carolina’s stalwart defense in Game 4 was Jaccob Slavin.

In addition to helping keep the Panthers off the board on four penalty kills, the stick-checking wizard limited them to just four shots on goal over 18:22 of ice time at 5-on-5.

“He’s a very good player,” Tkachuk said of Slavin, a teammate of his with Team USA during the 4 Nations Face-Off. “He’s got an incredible stick. He knocks pucks down, blocks shots, skates so well. He isn’t overly physical, but will be physical when he needs to be. One of the best D in the league, kind of all-around. He hits every part of the game.”

As the Panthers try to get back to the Stanley Cup Final, Slavin is one of the main players standing in their way.

THEY SAID IT

"We've got to make it harder on him if he's going to play that much. He's been incredible, not only this round but all year. ... Definitely a guy we've got to key on and a very tough player to play against." – Matthew Tkachuk on Jaccob Slavin

“Fighting to not have your mentality shift is the key piece. To cement an idea of making it part of your identity, you have to have successes and failures in that. We, in each of the three series prior, had blocks of games where you really like where you’re at, and then setbacks because the other team is great, too.” – Paul Maurice on bouncing back

FIVE CATS STATS

- Dating back to the start of the 2024 playoffs, Sergei Bobrovsky has gone 14-6 on the road.

- The Panthers boast a 45.8% success rate on the power play on the road this postseason.

- Florida is 5-0 when Carter Verhaeghe scores a goal during this year’s playoffs.

- Aleksander Barkov has registered a team-high 15 points (6G, 9A) this postseason.

- Evan Rodrigues leads the Panthers with six points in the Eastern Conference Final.

PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)

Forwards

Evan Rodrigues – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart

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: Wednesday, May 28 at 8 p.m. ET

Where: Lenovo Center – Raleigh, NC

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

Watch Party: FTL War Memorial and Baptist Health IcePlex