The Florida Panthers continued their playoff surge with a dominant 5-0 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night, taking a commanding 2-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference Final.
Sam Bennett led the charge with two goals, including one in Florida’s three-goal opening period that set the tone for a lopsided night. Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 17 shots he faced to earn his third shutout of the playoffs and sixth of his career, while Carter Verhaeghe orchestrated the offense with three assists in a relentless Panthers effort.
This latest performance not only tightened Florida’s grip on the series—it further established the Panthers as a postseason powerhouse. After stealing Game 1 on Tuesday with a 5-2 win, the Panthers returned to PNC Arena and stunned a usually raucous crowd into silence by the end of the first 20 minutes.
Gustav Forsling opened the scoring, followed by Bennett’s first goal and a long-awaited tally from Matthew Tkachuk, who hadn’t scored since Game 3 of the opening round against Tampa Bay. Tkachuk’s finish came on a slick feed from Verhaeghe at the crease, giving Florida a 3-0 cushion and effectively putting the game out of reach early.
Carolina appeared to claw one back early in the second when Sebastian Aho scored off a turnover, but Florida successfully challenged the play for offside. Brent Burns’ stick-check on Tkachuk had pushed the puck out of the zone, nullifying what would have been a momentum-shifting goal for the Hurricanes.
Instead, Bennett netted his second late in the second period, pouncing on a rebound at the right post after a prolonged Florida cycle that left Burns stuck on the ice without a stick. Aleksander Barkov added a fifth midway through the third period, cementing Florida’s dominance and sending Hurricanes fans fleeing for the exits.
Carolina, typically a high-shot-volume team, was stifled from the outset—managing just three shots in the first period and seven through two frames. Frustration boiled over in the stands with chants of “Shoot the puck! Shoot the puck!” as the Hurricanes’ attack sputtered. The offensive woes eventually prompted head coach Rod Brind’Amour to pull veteran goalie Frederik Andersen in favor of backup Pyotr Kochetkov for the final period.
The defeat marked Carolina’s 14th consecutive loss in a conference final, with sweeps now spanning 2009, 2019, 2023, and potentially 2024 if the trend continues. The rematch of last year’s Eastern Final—swept by Florida in four one-goal games—has taken on a far more lopsided look this time around, with the Panthers winning four straight road playoff games by a combined score of 22-4.
Not everything was perfect for Florida, however. Veteran forward Sam Reinhart left the game in the first period after taking a low hit from Aho that caused his left knee to bend awkwardly. Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said there was no immediate update on Reinhart’s status.
Florida will look to put a stranglehold on the series when they return home for Game 3 on Saturday night at Amerant Bank Arena, with the Hurricanes desperately needing answers to keep their season alive.
