The current Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers quickly took home-ice advantage in the Eastern Conference final.
Carter Verhaeghe and Aaron Ekblad each scored a goal in the first period to set the tone, while Sergei Bobrovsky stayed strong in goal as the Panthers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 in the opening game of the series Tuesday night.
A.J. Greer scored in the second period after a smooth 2-on-1 play for Florida, and Sam Bennett added a goal in the third period that helped seal the result. Eetu Luostarinen scored again later, making it 5-1 and adding to the lead.
“We love to win, of course,” Bennett said. “That’s why we’re here, that’s why we put in all these hours. That’s why we do the hard things that are necessary to win. It’s because we love it that much. We have one goal in mind and that’s going to be our focus the whole way.”
Bobrovsky made 31 saves, including during a stretch where Florida didn’t get a shot on goal for more than 15 minutes across the second intermission. This performance came just two days after the Panthers beat Toronto in a Game 7 on the road to reach this stage, setting up a rematch of the Eastern final from two years ago.
Florida won that series by sweeping all four games, each by one goal, including a Game 1 that went into four overtimes. As before, the Panthers quickly took away home-ice advantage from a team that had gone 5-0 at home in the playoffs.
“I think we didn’t love our game,” Verhaeghe said. “We liked our game, obviously anytime you win in the playoffs.”
Sebastian Aho scored the only goal for Carolina when the game was still close. Seth Jarvis’ pass hit Aho’s right skate and slipped under Bobrovsky at the end of the first period, cutting the lead to 2-1. But Florida answered with Greer’s goal after a backhand pass from Niko Mikkola beat Frederik Andersen early in the second to push the lead back to two.
Rod Brind’Amour watches from the sidelinesAndersen had been playing very well in the playoffs, but was left alone with Verhaeghe close to the goal, allowing a fast power-play shot to the top right corner. Later, he couldn’t see the puck clearly because Brad Marchand was in front of him, leading to Bennett’s goal, which came right after Florida’s long stretch without a shot.
Both of those goals happened while Florida had a man advantage, which stood out because Carolina’s penalty kill had been the best in the playoffs, allowing just two goals on 30 attempts over two rounds.
“When they got the two power-play goals, I think that’s really the difference in the game,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “You’ve got to kill those. You’ve got to give them credit; when they get a chance it’s in the net. … They play a heavy, hard game, but they can score.”
Jackson Blake scored a goal late for Carolina, during a finish that saw Marchand ejected with a game-misconduct penalty after a scuffle with Shayne Gostisbehere. He was led off the ice by an official while yelling back toward center ice.
This was Carolina’s 13th straight loss in a conference final, going back to sweeps in 2009, 2019, and 2023.
Game 2 will be played in Carolina on Thursday night.
