The Carolina Hurricanes delivered a jaw-dropping offensive performance Friday night, exploding for six third-period goals to rout the Florida Panthers 9-1 and snap Florida’s two-game winning streak.
Nikolaj Ehlers led the onslaught with three goals for his sixth career hat trick — and his first since joining Carolina — as the Hurricanes overwhelmed the Panthers with speed, precision and relentless pressure. Ehlers, who signed with Carolina in the offseason after spending 10 years with Winnipeg, also added an assist in a dominant all-around performance.
Carolina struck first late in the opening period when Ehlers beat Sergei Bobrovsky with 1:25 remaining to make it 1-0. Florida briefly answered early in the second period as Uvis Balinskis scored at the 1:19 mark to tie the game, but that would be the Panthers’ lone bright spot.
Mark Jankowski put Carolina back in front at 13:10 of the second period, and Alexander Nikishin followed with a power-play goal three minutes later to make it 3-1. The floodgates truly opened in the third, as Carolina capitalized repeatedly with the man advantage.
Andrei Svechnikov, Ehlers and Taylor Hall each scored power-play goals during the decisive stretch, with Ehlers completing his hat trick on a blistering one-timer off a pass from Logan Stankoven to push the lead to 7-1. Hall finished with two goals on the night, while Eric Robinson added a goal to cap the scoring. Jankowski chipped in a goal and two assists, and Nikishin and Svechnikov each posted a goal and an assist.
Brandon Bussi was steady in net for Carolina, stopping 16 shots as the Hurricanes improved to 5-1-1 over their last seven games. Carolina finished with four power-play goals and eight unanswered tallies overall.
It was a rough night for Florida, which surrendered all nine goals to Bobrovsky, who made 26 saves in the loss. The Panthers were unable to recover after Carolina seized control late in the second period.
The Panthers travel to Washington to face the Capitals on Saturday night, while the Hurricanes head to New Jersey for a Saturday showdown with the Devils.
