The Florida Panthers are one confident hockey team — and why shouldn’t they be?
They won the Stanley Cup last year.
They’ve played for it the past two years.
They’re now in their third consecutive Eastern Conference Final and playing a Carolina Hurricanes team that the Panthers seem convinced they can handle. At least, their body language, overall demeanor and the way they play indicated just that.
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Hours before the game began Tuesday, Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk played the role of antagonist. Using a exercise area adjacent to the interview area after the morning skates, he pounded a medicine ball loudly on the floor a few times while the Canes’ Jordan Staal and Taylor Hall were at the podium speaking nearby.
No harm, no foul. Staal and Hall didn’t really notice. Tkachuk quit and went away, his point apparently made, and defiantly so, about his approach to the series and in dealing with his opponent. Thump, thump, thump.
Carolina’s Shayne Gostisbehere (4) tangles with the PanthersÕ Brad Marchand (63) during the third period of the Florida PanthersÕ 5-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, May 20, 2025. Ethan Hyman/ehyman@newsobserver.com
Once again, why not?
The Panthers, with many of the same players, won four straight games against the Hurricanes in 2023. The games were close, yes, but the Panthers were the better team and looked that way again Tuesday night in punching out a 5-2 victory in Game 1 of the 2025 conference final.
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There was a lot of talk before Tuesday’s game about it being a new year, not 2023, and how the Canes had looked so poised in taking playoff series wins over New Jersey and then the Washington Capitals, who won the Metropolitan Division this season.
Canes goalie Frederik Andersen was stopping everything. The Canes’ penalty killers weren’t allowing anything. The Hurricanes were making the needed plays, looking the part of an experienced team whose style of play frustrated the Devils and Caps.
The Panthers’ Anton Lundell (15), left, and Tomas Nosek (92) celebrate with Eetu Luostarinen (27) after he scored past Carolina’s Frederik Andersen (31) during the third period of the Florida Panthers’ 5-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, May 20, 2025. Ethan Hyman/ehyman@newsobserver.com
And then the Panthers scored twice Tuesday on the power play. They scored off the rush. They scored against the Canes’ best checking line centered by Staal. They had their way.
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“They played a great game, you have to tip your hat,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We created a bunch of turnovers and had a couple of ‘almosts’ and that’s the game.
“They’re doing it, too. They’re trying to forecheck us and they probably put more pucks in than we did (on the forecheck) and they put more stress on us than we did on them,” Brind’Amour said. “That’s how they play. That’s why they’re the best.”
The Panthers have now won six road games in the playoffs this year. They have arguably the best player in the series in Aleksander Barkov. They’re a deep group, a tough group, one hardened by the playoff battles the past few years.
“This whole thing is a confidence game,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said.
Carolina’s Jesperi Kotkaniemi (82) keeps his eye on the puck during the first period of the Carolina Hurricanes’ game against the Florida Panthers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, May 20, 2025. Ethan Hyman/ehyman@newsobserver.com
There’s a lot of confidence in Sergei Bobrovsky. The goalie completely stymied the Canes in 2023 and did his part again Tuesday, stopping 31 of 33 shots while Andersen was beaten for five goals on 20 shots.
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The Canes had a 34-21 edge in total scoring chances and 15-5 in high-danger chances, according to Naturalstatstick.com, the hockey analytics site. Not that it mattered with Bobrovsky in net.
Eight minutes into the second period, Bobrovsky was caught without his stick and the Canes’ Jack Roslovic was open for a shot in the slot. Bobrovsky got his glove on the shot and that was that.
Panthers’ Sergei Bobrovsky (72) makes the save on a shot by Carolina’s Sebastian Aho (20) during the first period of the Carolina Hurricanes’ game against the Florida Panthers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, May 20, 2025. Ethan Hyman/ehyman@newsobserver.com
“I didn’t hate our game tonight,” Brind’Amour said. “It’s going to be hard. It’s going to go back and forth. I think we had opportunities. Early in the game, too, we had a couple of opportunities and didn’t capitalize and it went a difference direction.”
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Could have but didn’t. Instead, Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett had power-play goals for the Panthers. Aaron Ekblad scored at even strength with a snipe. A.J. Greer scored on an odd-man rush.
That’s capitalizing.
“They’re too good a team. They’re going to get theirs,” Brind’Amour said. “They’ve got some real good high-end scorers so when you get your opportunities, and they may not be many, you’ve got to find a way to put it behind them.
“That’s not really a secret here. That’s what you’ve got to do.”
The Canes got their goals when Sebastian Aho had a Seth Jarvis pass/shot go off his skate late in the first period and Jackson Blake poked in a short shot on the power play late in the game.
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Aho had a team-leading six shots. Winger Andrei Svechnikov, off to a dynamic start in the playoffs with eight goals in 10 games, was limited to one shot.
“They’re the defending Cup champions for a reason. They’ve been rolling,” Jarvis said. “It’s going to be hard, regardless. Playing a team like that is going to be tough.
“But we’re going to figure this out and get back on the horse.”
In 2023, the Canes followed a Game 1 loss — in four overtimes — with a second overtime defeat to lose their two home games in the conference final. They then went to Florida, lost two more games and that was that.
The Panthers moved on, played for the Cup. The Canes went home.
All that could be in the minds of both teams Thursday when Game 2 is played at Lenovo Center.
“We have to be better and there’s urgency and the next one is huge,” Staal said.