It’s an all-Southern showdown for the NHL’s Eastern Conference Final, a third straight appearance for the defending champion Florida Panthers.
Florida, just two days removed from a 6-1 closeout victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs, heads directly to Raleigh to face the Carolina Hurricanes at 8 p.m. on May 20. The Hurricanes enjoyed five days off after dispatching the Washington Capitals in five games.
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Paul Maurice (6-0 all-time as head coach) and Brad Marchand (10 points, most among active players) maintained their respective Game 7 mastery. Florida becomes just the sixth team in the salary cap era (since 2005-06) to reach back-to-back-to-back conference finals. Marchand fittingly drove the final nail into the Core Four’s coffin with an empty-netter, becoming the first player in NHL history to defeat one franchise five times in winner-take-all games.
Carolina made relatively light work of its Metropolitan Division opposition, going 8-2 across the first two rounds. The Hurricanes have won 10 playoff series since 2019; only the Tampa Bay Lightning (11) has enjoyed more success in that span.
The winner will meet either the Edmonton Oilers or the Dallas Stars for the Stanley Cup.
Here are five things to know before puck drop as the Panthers look to take another step toward repeating:
The Florida Panthers swept the Carolina Hurricanes in 2023
Carolina head coach Rod Brind’Amour certainly did not want to admit it in the immediate aftermath, but the Panthers swept the Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final just two seasons ago.
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“That’s not what happened,” Brind’Amour said when asked about the four-game exit and its parallels to a similar situation in 2019. “I watched the game. I’m there. I’m cutting the game. We’re in the game. We didn’t lose four games. We got beat but we were right there. This could have went the other way. It could have been four games the other way.”
SUNRISE, FLORIDA – MAY 24: Aleksander Barkov #16 of the Florida Panthers puts on the conference championship hat after the game against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Finals of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at FLA Live Arena on May 24, 2023 in Sunrise, Florida. The Panthers defeated the Hurricanes 4-3 to take the series 4-0. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Brind’Amour, oddly enough, scored the eventual game-winning power play goal the last time Carolina won a third-round playoff game — against the Buffalo Sabres in 2006. Since then, the Hurricanes have dropped 12 consecutive contests in the conference final round.
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All four of the Panthers’ wins in 2023 were in one-goal games, including a quadruple-overtime classic in Game 1 — ended by Carter Verhaeghe after 122 minutes and 17 seconds of game time. Carolina outshot Florida, 174-127, across the four matchups, but Sergei Bobrovsky posted a remarkable .966 save percentage.
One notable absence for the Hurricanes that year was winger Andrei Svechnikov, sidelined with a knee injury. The 25-year-old Russian has eight goals in these Stanley Cup Playoffs, second only to Dallas forward Mikko Rantanen. He fired home the series clincher May 15 in Washington from an awkward angle with just under two minutes left in regulation.
The Carolina Hurricanes have been nearly unbeatable at home
Few teams in the NHL benefitted more from home ice advantage in 2024-25 than the Carolina Hurricanes. According to StatMuse, only the Los Angeles Kings and the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets posted a better mark in front of their own fans than the ‘Canes (31-9-1).
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Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen (31) reaches out for the shot against the Detroit Red Wings during the second period at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday, March 14, 2025.
Carolina’s home-road splits were staggering. The Hurricanes posted a .768 points percentage in Raleigh, scoring 155 goals (+54 differential) and taking 30.4 shots per game. In any other barn leaguewide, they had a .439 points percentage — 22nd in the NHL — with just 111 goals (-18 differential) despite a slight uptick in shot volume (32.9 per game).
The Hurricanes converted on just 15.5% of their power plays on the road, compared to a far healthier 21.3% rate at the Lenovo Center.
And those trends have continued into the postseason. Carolina is unbeaten across its five home games, outscoring its opponents 21-8 — including a 9-2 margin against the Metropolitan Division champion Washington Capitals.
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The Panthers, of course, will not be intimidated by the raucous environment. Florida is 5-2 away from home since the start of the playoffs, sweeping three games in Tampa and throttling Toronto twice in must-win situations.
Paul Maurice coached Carolina for 11 years across 2 stints
Jun 24, 2024; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice hoists the Stanley Cup after defeating Edmonton Oilers in game seven of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports
Maurice might have captured the first championship of his 27-year run as an NHL head coach with the Panthers, but he got his start with the Carolina Hurricanes franchise during their days in Hartford.
Hired at just 29 years old ahead of the 1995-96 season, Maurice followed the Whalers through their relocation and guided the Hurricanes to an unlikely appearance in the 2002 Stanley Cup Final. The team won the Southeast Division but had the sixth-highest point total among Eastern Conference playoff qualifiers.
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Maurice was fired 30 games into the 2003-04 campaign after guiding the Hurricanes to just eight victories and 26 points. He returned in 2008, following a two-year run with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and lasted another three-plus years behind the bench before being fired a second time on Nov. 28, 2011.
Brind’Amour, a Hurricanes assistant coach at the time, was retained under Maurice’s replacement, Kirk Muller.
In total, Maurice recorded 323 of his 916 coaching victories with the Whalers and Hurricanes and had a .503 regular season points percentage. Carolina went 25-28 in the playoffs with Maurice at the helm.
Panthers, Hurricanes boast elite penalty killing units
Apr 20, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; New Jersey Devils left wing Jesper Bratt (63) controls the puck against Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin (74) during the second period of game one of the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images
This is a matchup between two of the NHL’s premier penalty killing units.
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Left-handed defenseman Jaccob Slavin starred for the United States at the 4 Nations Faceoff, and he anchors a Carolina PK that has thwarted 28 of 30 opposing power plays this postseason (93.3%). Top scorers Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis handle the dirty work as well, and veterans Jordan Staal and Jordan Martinook have long been considered among the game’s better defensive forwards.
Frederik Andersen has stood tall between the pipes for the Hurricanes, leading all NHL goaltenders in GAA (1.36) and save percentage (.937) through two rounds.
Florida fended off the Maple Leafs’ five-forward power play squad, and has a similarly stingy overall PK mark of 89.5%. The Panthers remain a huge threat to put the puck in the net even while shorthanded, scoring 12 times during the regular season while down a man — second-best in the league behind the New York Rangers (19).
Sam Reinhart, credited with five of the aforementioned shorties, joined linemate Aleksander Barkov as finalists for the Selke Trophy, awarded to the league’s top defensive forward. Gustav Forsling has developed into one of the game’s premier shutdown defenders, and he is fresh off a +4 rating in Sunday’s dismantling of the Maple Leafs.
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Carolina has fared better than Florida thus far with the man advantage. The Hurricanes are 9 of 32 on the power play (28.1%), good for fourth in the league, while the Panthers are 10th at 8 for 39 (20.5%).
Seth Jones, Logan Stankoven among potential series X-factors
May 18, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Florida Panthers defenseman Seth Jones (3) reacts after a goal by forward Jonah Gadjovich (12) against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the second period of game seven of the second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
These are two teams with similar identities — smothering forechecks that create relentless pressure, and lineup depth to prevent an opponent from taking a single shift off.
When looking forward to predict potential X-factors in a series expected to be so tight, let’s first glance back at the NHL trade deadline.
Florida made waves by bringing in defenseman Seth Jones from Chicago, a move viewed with initial skepticism considering his mounting injury history, overall decline in point production and massive salary cap hit ($7 million per season through 2029-30, excluding $2.5 million retained each season by the Blackhawks).
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The 30-year-old right-shot has been one of the Panthers’ best performers at the halfway point of the playoffs. He leads the team in ice time (25:45 per game), and he has produced three goals and three assists.
Jones opened the Game 7 scoring in Toronto, sniping an end-over-end puck above Woll’s right shoulder and just underneath the crossbar. He added a secondary assist on Jonah Gadjovich’s backbreaker that put the Panthers ahead 3-0, registering his first multi-point playoff game since April 27, 2019.
Carolina salvaged a potential midseason debacle after previously acquiring Rantanen from the Colorado Avalanche by flipping him to the Stars on deadline day for Stankoven, two conditional first-round picks and two third-round picks. Rantanen played just 13 games for the ‘Canes and made it clear he would not sign a contract extension, something he did immediately in Dallas to the tune of $96 million over eight years.
Carolina Hurricanes center Logan Stankoven (22) celebrates his goal against the New Jersey Devils during the second period in game five of the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Lenovo Center.
Rantanen is the runaway Conn Smythe Trophy frontrunner with nine goals and 10 assists, but 22-year-old Stankoven has produced at a half-point-per-game pace since joining Carolina.
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He tallied the Hurricanes’ first two goals of the playoffs in a Game 1 rout of New Jersey, and added one goal and one assist against Washington while skating on a line with Taylor Hall and Jack Roslovic.
According to ESPN, Stankoven will become just the second player since 1994 to compete in both the Western Conference Final and the Eastern Conference Final within his first two NHL seasons. Ville Leino achieved the feat for Detroit and Philadelphia in 2009 and ’10, and both of those teams reached the Stanley Cup Final.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Florida Panthers vs Carolina Hurricanes NHL playoffs: 5 things to know