Panthers rally past Hurricanes, heads to 2025 Stanley Cup Final for the third year in a row
The Florida Panthers showed why they are the defending champions and why they're headed to the Stanley Cup Final for the third year in a row.
Outplayed in the first period and outscored 2-0 on goals by Sebastian Aho, the Panthers turned it around quickly in the second period for a series-clinching 5-3 victory on Wednesday night in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals.
The Panthers killed off a penalty and got a power play immediately after. They then struck on a Matthew Tkachuk deflection to cut the lead to 2-1. Thirty seconds later, Evan Rodrigues tipped in a center pass. One shot later, Anton Lundell did the same, and the Panthers had three goals on three consecutive shots and a 3-2 lead.
Though Seth Jarvis tied the game in the third period, Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov made a beautiful play to set up Carter Verhaeghe's go-ahead goal. Sam Bennett scored an empty-netter to put the game away.
Florida will try to become the first NHL team to win back-to-back championships since the 2020 and 2021 Tampa Bay Lightning, who also made three consecutive trips to the final.
Florida knocked off the Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs and Hurricanes this season. They had fallen behind 2-0 to the Maple Leafs before winning in seven games. They won the first three games of the Eastern Conference finals before clinching in Game 5.
The Panthers will face the winner of the Dallas Stars-Edmonton Oilers series. The Oilers lead 3-1 in the Western Conference finals after Tuesday's 4-1 victory in Game 4. They can wrap it up in Dallas on Thursday night.
The Panthers beat the Oilers in seven games during last season’s Stanley Cup Final. And they're deeper this year after adding Brad Marchand and Seth Jones at the trade deadline.
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