Panthers wallop Hurricanes in Game 1 of Eastern Conference Final in Raleigh
After polishing off the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Florida Panthers had a quick turnaround before facing the Carolina Hurricanes.
No problem.
Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe said his team still had a “do-or-die mindset” and would be ready to play when the Eastern Conference final began.
And so it went.
The Panthers, the sharper team, earned a 5-2 victory over the more-rested Hurricanes at Lenovo Center as Florida looked the part of the defending Cup champion.
The game Tuesday was nothing like the opening game of the 2023 Eastern Conference Final between the Canes and Panthers. That one went four tense overtimes before Florida finally decided it on a Matthew Tkachuk goal, and the Panthers went on to a four-game sweep of the series.
The Canes will look to bounce back in Game 2 on Thursday at Lenovo Center and try to even the series before it moves to Florida for two games, mindful of how the 2023 series played out.
“We obviously have to limit our mistakes and their chances,” Canes captain Jordan Staal said.
The Panthers never trailed Tuesday. After taking a decisive Game 7 victory over the Maple Leafs Sunday in Toronto, they flew to Raleigh and still were in hockey beast mode for Game 1 against Carolina.
Verhaeghe scored on a first-period power play and defenseman Aaron Ekblad added a second goal four minutes later for a 2-0 lead. It was just the start the Panthers were looking for, establishing control, quieting the Lenovo Center crowd.
The Hurricanes got a break and a needed spark in the final seconds of the opening period when a Seth Jarvis shot went off Sebastian Aho’s skate and past goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. The Canes later got a power-play goal from rookie forward Jackson Blake, but in the final minutes after falling behind 5-1.
Despite allowing the late goal, Bobrovsky had a smooth, confident performance reminiscent of his near-flawless play in the 2023 ECF. The guy called “Bob” had 31 saves.
“We had our chances,” Canes defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere said. “Bob played really well. A couple of more bounces and it could have been a different game. It’s really hard to chase these games this time of year.”
The Panthers pushed their lead to 3-1 in the second period on an A.J. Greer score off the rush as Florida’s fourth line scored against the Canes’ fourth line. Sam Bennett then sealed it with a power-play goal after Canes defenseman Scott Morrow, making his NHL playoff debut, was called for delay of game for flipping the puck over the glass trying to clear the zone.
Forward Eetu Luostarinen, traded to the Panthers by Carolina in 2020, added the fifth goal late in the third and has 13 points in 13 playoff games.
“I didn’t love our game tonight,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “We had some good finishes. They had some good chances they didn’t finish on.”
The Canes’ Frederik Andersen came into the series with the best goaltending numbers in the playoffs — a 1.36 goals-against average and .937 save percentage — but suffered his third loss in 10 starts as the play in front of him was looser and not as focused as in the series wins over New Jersey and then the Caps.
Tempers flared in the third when Gostisbehere and the Panthers’ Brad Marchand dropped the gloves after getting the sticks up high.
“Just heated,” Gostisbehere said of the confrontation. “He tried to take a run at me and I shot a puck at him. It is what it is.”
That ended the night for Marchand, who was called for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct.
The Canes spent a lot of the first period trying to establish themselves physically, as if shaking off the rust from being off since Thursday’s game in Washington.
The Jordan Staal line was a threesome of heavy hitters as William Carrier landed a couple of huge hits in the offensive zone while Staal and Jordan Martinook did some thumping. Staal was credited with 10 hits, Carrier six and Martinook four.
That’s the Canes’ game — get in on the forecheck and play in the other team’s zone and they were able to do it at times in the first.
The Panthers’ Anton Lundell goaded Aho into a roughing penalty that led to Florida’s first goal. In a push-and-shove by the Panthers net, Lundell crosschecked Aho in the back and then got in a quick slash, only to have Aho retaliate and draw the penalty.
With 30 seconds left in the power play, Verhaeghe took a Barkov pass and lifted a quick backhander past Andersen for a 1-0 lead.
Four minutes later, it was 2-0, Florida,
After Staal lost the puck along the end boards in the Carolina end, Panthers forward Evan Rodrigues got the puck to Ekblad for a quick snipe to Andersen’s right.
Just when it appeared the Canes would go to their locker room in a 2-0 deficit at the first break, Aho had the pass from Jarvis go off his right skate in front of the crease and past Bobrovsky.
The play was reviewed to determine if Aho scored with a kicking motion, but the ruling was a good goal.
Aho had earlier challenged Bobrovsky on a partial breakaway and been denied, and Jarvis moments later was stopped on a quick shot from the slot.
The Canes left the ice with some bounce in their step but the Panthers made it 3-1 four minutes into the second. Beating the Canes down the ice in transition, Greer scored off the rush.
One storyline before the game was whether Canes defenseman Jalen Chatfield would be able to play the series opener. Chatfield, who has an undisclosed injury, was unable to go in Game 5 of the series against the Washington Capitals as Alexander Nikishin made his NHL debut.
Chatfield took part in Tuesday’s morning skate but Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour decided to let Morrow make his Stanley Cup playoff debut. That put a right-handed shooter in the lineup to pair with Gostisbehere.
Morrow was on the ice when Ekblad scored in the first. In the third, he had the delay penalty that had Bennett score for a 4-1 lead.
The Canes have not won a game in an Eastern Conference final since winning the Stanley Cup in 2006, going 0-13. They’ll try again Thursday.
One friend gone, another here
Orlov was glad to have the experience of playing against his former Capitals teammates behind him — he won the Stanley Cup with Washington in 2018 and remains close friends with Alex Ovechkin — but it doesn’t get any easier for him. He grew up with Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, three years his senior, in the Siberian town of Novokuznetsk.
But that’s just one player, not an entire franchise.
“It wasn’t easy, you know, because I spent so many years there,” Orlov said. “I was even more proud of our team, how we played against them and beat them. It’s going to be a good memory for me. I have a lot of respect for them, for that organization. It’s not easy.”
A different May for Blake
Blake didn’t have to think too long when asked what he was doing a year ago this week. He was back home chilling, he said Tuesday morning, with the school year done at North Dakota. He was watching the Stanley Cup playoffs. He was playing a lot of golf.
“Working out, skating, golfing and going home to watch,” he said. “That was my day.”
Blake smiled.
“I like where I’m at right now. This is more fun.”
A year later, Blake is an NHL rookie in a conference final.
“You always dream of this, right?” he said. “You always dream to go for the hardest Cup to win in any sport. Yeah, this is a dream come true so far, for sure.”
Blake also has the makings of a playoff beard, with some blondish whiskers.
“I know I didn’t have that last year this time,” he joked.
This story was originally published May 20, 2025 at 12:02 PM with the headline "Panthers wallop Hurricanes in Game 1 of Eastern Conference Final in Raleigh."
