Before Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, no team had scored more than four goals against the Carolina Hurricanes during the 2025 playoffs. No team had scored more than once against their top-ranked penalty kill. Most importantly, no one had beaten them at home in front of their loud “Caniacs” crowd.
That changed when the Florida Panthers came to town on Tuesday night. Florida defeated Carolina 5-2 to take a 1-0 lead in the series, just two days after knocking out the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 7 on the road.
“There’s a lot of emotion in a Game 7. To be ready to compete as hard as you can, knowing that \[Carolina] had a few days rest and they’re playing in front of their fans? It was a huge win. Huge win and really happy,” said Panthers forward A.J. Greer, who scored Florida’s third goal.
The game started with a physical tone, with both teams trading 11 hits before the second shot on goal. Carter Verhaeghe scored on the power play to give Florida a 1-0 lead.
“We wanted to be ready for this game. We know how hard they play here in this building especially, so we wanted to be ready for this game and I think obviously we got rewarded there early,” said Florida captain Aleksander Barkov.
Carolina’s Sebastian Aho was in the penalty box for a retaliatory penalty against Anton Lundell, who had cross-checked him. Before that goal, the Hurricanes’ penalty kill had only allowed one goal in 15 chances at home and two in 30 overall during the playoffs.
Verhaeghe said the Panthers were focused on starting strong after falling behind early in their last series against Toronto.
“It’s a tough building to play in. This gives us a lot of confidence that we can get a win here. We had a tough start to the last series going down 0-2. That’s one thing we wanted to do this series — at least win the first one,” he said.
Florida’s second goal showed how tough the night would be for Carolina. Logan Stankoven missed a great chance to score on Sergei Bobrovsky, and a strong forecheck by Florida led to a rare mistake by Jordan Staal. That allowed Aaron Ekblad to score and make it 2-0.
Every time the Hurricanes seemed to gain momentum, the Panthers had an answer. Aho scored late in the first period on a goal that was reviewed to check for a kicking motion. Florida coach Paul Maurice said there wasn’t enough evidence to overturn the call. Greer then responded with a goal at 3:33 of the second period.
“We know what to do. We know the recipe. When everyone’s going and there’s a commitment to play a solid Panthers hockey game … it’s not easy, but it makes it hard for them,” Greer said.
Carolina Hurricanes (NHL)Sam Bennett added a power-play goal and Eetu Luostarinen scored at even strength in the third period. “They got the two power-play goals. That was the difference in the game. We’ve got to kill those,” said Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour.
Carolina’s only other goal came late on a power play from Jackson Blake, but that was all they could get past Bobrovsky and the Panthers.
Maurice said his team handled the change in opponent style well from Toronto to Carolina.
“I didn’t love our game tonight, but I understood it. Game 1 is that first look at what your game looks like against a completely different opponent. So we will have to continue to build that game and get better,” he said. “I thought they had good chances that they didn’t finish on. Sergei \[Bobrovsky] was very strong.”
Bobrovsky made 31 saves and outperformed Frederik Andersen, who allowed five goals on 20 shots. Andersen had been one of the best goalies in the playoffs before this series. Carolina put pressure on Bobrovsky throughout the game, including a moment when Andrei Svechnikov’s hip hit his head.
“It’s OK. It’s the playoffs. They try to get under the skin. I just focus on my things and try not to think about that,” Bobrovsky said.
As expected, tensions rose during the game. Brad Marchand received four minutes for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct after Carolina defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere shot the puck at him in response to a hit. The two nearly fought, though Gostisbehere didn’t drop his gloves.
“Just heated. I was pretty pissed off. He tried to take a run at me. I shot the puck at him. We had a little \[tussle],” Gostisbehere said.
Game 2 is Thursday night in Raleigh.
