For the third straight year, the Florida Panthers are heading to the Stanley Cup Final.
They punched their ticket with a 5-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final to take the series 4-1.
Game 4 marked the Hurricanes’ lone win of the third round.
Carolina jumped out to a 2–0 lead in Wednesday night’s game with a pair of goals from Sebastian Aho, but Florida responded with three straight in the second period from Matthew Tkachuk, Evan Rodrigues and Anton Lundell.
Seth Jarvis tied it 3–3 for the Hurricanes midway through the final frame, but Panthers centre Carter Verhaeghe ultimately scored the game-winner with 7:39 remaining, and Sam Bennett added insurance with an empty-netter in the final seconds.
The Panthers will now either face the Edmonton Oilers in a rematch of last year’s Stanley Cup Final or meet the Dallas Stars — if they can battle back from a 3-1 deficit in the Western Conference Final.
Florida captured its first Stanley Cup in 2024 with a 2-1 win over the Oilers in Game 7.
More to come.
