Carolina started Game 5 the way it played in Game 4. By the end of the first period, the Hurricanes led 2-0, giving fans at the Lenovo Center hope that their team might be capable of an epic comeback after falling behind 3-0 in the best-of-seven series.

The Florida Panthers slammed the door on that, crushing that hope with a three-goal flurry in the second period and a game-winner in the third period. The offensive blizzard put Florida ahead 3-2, and Carter Verhaeghe scored the game-winner late in the third period for the Panthers in their 5-3, Eastern Conference clinching effort in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Wednesday.

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The Panthers are now headed to their fourth — and third consecutive — Stanley Cup Final, where they will face the winner of the Dallas-Edmonton series. The Oilers lead the Stars three games to one; if they win, it will clinch a rematch of last year’s seven-game Final.

“We know what we’re capable of,” Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk said in a post-game interview with TNT, “and we’re not going to celebrate until we get that.”

Like in Game 3, the Hurricanes got on the board first. Gustav Forsling turned the puck over, and Carolina center Sebastian Aho got a breakaway and beat Sergei Bobrovsky to open the scoring.

Aho gave the Hurricanes a 2-0 lead later in the first period, capitalizing on a turnover by Niko Mikkola and beating Bobrovsky with a wrist shot.

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But after a poor first period, the floodgates opened for Florida in the second period. The Panthers got on the board for the first time since Game 3 with a Matthew Tkachuk power-play goal. The star forward tipped in a shot from Aaron Ekblad, getting the Panthers back in the game.

Thirty seconds later, Evan Rodrigues scored his first goal of the postseason and tied the game at two. Rodrigues is the 19th different goal scorer for Florida this postseason.

About four minutes later, veteran Brad Marchand fed a pass to Anton Lundell, who was stationed in front of Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen, and Lundell fed it into the top corner of the net.

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But Lundell’s goal would not hold up as the game-winner. After the Panthers failed to clear the puck out of their zone, the loose puck bounced in front of Bobrovsky. Seth Jarvis got his stick on it and tied the game up with 11:30 left in the third period.

The Panthers struck back with about 7:30 left in the third period. Florida captain Aleksander Barkov evaded his defender and dished a backhanded pass to Verhaeghe, who slotted home the conference winning goal.

Florida had to kill off a crucial, late power play, during which Carolina pulled Andersen to get a sixth attacker against the four Panthers on the ice. Despite the two-man advantage, the Hurricanes could not tie the game and keep their season alive. Instead, Sam Bennett scored an empty-net goal in the game’s final minute to seal the victory.

This story will be updated.