Hurricanes-Panthers series conjures memories of an NHL playoff marathon — or two
It was Thursday, May 18, 2023 when the puck dropped at a little past 8 p.m.
When the Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers were done playing, it was a little before 2 a.m. Friday morning, May 19.
It was the opening game of the 2023 Eastern Conference Final in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and it took nearly four overtimes before the Panthers earned a 3-2 victory.
Matthew Tkachuk’s goal with 13 seconds left in the fourth OT sent the Panthers skating quickly toward the gate to their locker room at what is now Lenovo Center while sending a lot of disappointed Canes fans home in the wee hours.
“It was a weird day, a long day and not a great day for us,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said of the game.
There was a flashback to 2002, when the Canes and Detroit Red Wings hooked up in a game in the Stanley Cup final — the first played in Raleigh — and the Red Wings emerged with a 3-2 win in a third overtime.
Paul Maurice was the Canes coach in 2002 and Brind’Amour, No. 17, in the lineup. In 2023, Maurice was behind the Florida bench and coaching the Panthers against Brind’Amour.
“I think that just broke us,” Maurice said then of the Canes-Wings triple-OT game. “We didn’t look the same after that. We had been swinging above our weight class for seven weeks (in the playoffs) and that 2002 Detroit team is still the best team I’ve ever seen.”
The Canes’ loss came in Game 3 of the 2002 Stanley Cup final, and the Red Wings finished off the series in five games.
Two years ago, Maurice said he did not think the marathon loss would have as big an effect on the Canes, that it was a loss that Carolina could “package and put away.” But the Panthers won Game 2 in overtime, Tkachuk again with the winning goal, and went on to sweep the series with a pair of wins in Sunrise, Florida.
The Panthers were denied the 2023 Stanley Cup by the Vegas Golden Knights, but returned last year to give the franchise its first Cup championship.
Now, it’s Carolina and Florida again in the 2025 Eastern Conference final.
The Canes advanced with a five-game series win over the Washington Capitals and the Panthers went seven games before ending the season for the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday with a 6-1 win in Game 7.
“The margin for error is small,” Maurice said after the game in Toronto. “Before the puck dropped tonight, there were five teams in the NHL left. Five. All of them capable of winning. Puck went our way tonight. That’s it.”
It was on to Carolina for the Panthers. Again, the Hurricanes have the home-ice advantage and will play the first two games of the best-of-seven series at Lenovo Center. Tkachuk said Monday the Panthers were ready.
“When it’s time to put those work boots on, I don’t think there’s a team that works harder,” Tkachuk said at Lenovo Center. “That’s what makes it so much fun and so much more rewarding, is the grind of the season. That playoff experience started two years ago and this building was a part of that. So we’ve got that to reflect on and go back to, but this is a whole new beast this time around.”
Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final will start Tuesday at a little past 8 p.m. As to when it will finish …
This story was originally published May 20, 2025 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Hurricanes-Panthers series conjures memories of an NHL playoff marathon — or two."
