Sports Al Dente

The Florida Panthers were close to becoming the NHL’s top team when they reached the Stanley Cup Final two years ago and returned to win the Cup last year.

For the Panthers, the turning point came when they were in the exact position they’re in now: in the Eastern Conference finals, about to begin a road series against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night. In their previous meeting, Florida swept the series with four one-goal victories, starting with a dramatic four-overtime game that became the sixth-longest in NHL history.

“That playoff experience started three years ago and this building was a part of that,” said forward Matthew Tkachuk, who scored the four-OT game-winner in Raleigh, then followed it with another OT goal two nights later, rushing to the tunnel to celebrate in the locker room. “We have that to reflect on and go back on, but this is a whole new beast this time around.”

The Panthers come into this opener after a dominant 6-1 victory over Toronto in Game 7 on Sunday. After the win, they flew to Carolina on Monday, sticking to their usual routine of resting, hydrating, and starting recovery in the city after the game.

“If anything, we know there’s a tremendous amount of work left that certainly doesn’t get easier against a team like Carolina,” said Florida forward Sam Reinhart.

“We’ve seen them year-in, year-out and we’ve had a series against them that was as tight as any, checking and the style of play. We’ll get back, ready, recover and get ready to go on Tuesday.”

The Hurricanes have been off since sweeping the top-seeded Washington Capitals in just five games on Thursday. This win sent them to the Eastern final for the second time in three seasons and the third time in their current seven-year postseason streak since Rod Brind’Amour became head coach.

However, Carolina has struggled in the conference finals. The team has lost every conference final since Brind’Amour led the franchise to its only Cup win in 2006, including being swept in 2009, 2019, and two years ago. This makes it 12 straight losses in the conference final, eight of which came with the current core of the team.

“Two years ago, it didn’t feel good obviously at the time,” said Carolina captain Jordan Staal. “Whenever you have tough losses when you feel good about where you’re headed, they always stick out in your mind.”

In net, Carolina’s Frederik Andersen has been outstanding. He leads all goalies with multiple playoff starts in goals-against average (1.36) and save percentage (.937). Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky, meanwhile, was tough on Carolina in their 2023 series and comes into this matchup with a 2.31 GAA and a .901 save percentage.

When it comes to special teams, this series features the two best penalty-killing teams in the postseason.

The Hurricanes rank first, stopping 28 of 30 chances (.933) through the first two rounds, while also scoring one short-handed goal. The Panthers are second, stopping 34 of 38 chances (.895).

This could make it difficult for both teams’ power plays. Carolina is 9 of 32 (28.1%) on the power play, ranking fourth in the postseason, while Florida is 10th at 8 of 39 (20.5%).

Florida has reached the NHL’s final four for the third straight season, matching the longest streak by any team in the past 20 postseasons.

Dallas has also made the conference finals for the third consecutive year and will meet Edmonton in a rematch of the 2024 West finals. Other teams with similar streaks include Tampa Bay (2020-22), Chicago (2013-15), Los Angeles (2012-14), and Detroit (2007-09).

When looking at the two rosters, 33 players in this series — 17 for Florida and 16 for Carolina — have played in at least one conference final game before.

Five players in this series have at least nine career points in the conference finals, and all of them play for Florida. Brad Marchand, Carter Verhaeghe, and Matthew Tkachuk all have 10 points, while Aleksander Barkov and Sam Bennett each have nine.

One of Carolina’s key players, Andrei Svechnikov, was injured during the 2023 series against Florida and missed it. Now, the 25-year-old is having his best postseason yet.

Svechnikov, who is 6-foot-3 and weighs 199 pounds, has eight goals in the playoffs, second only to Mikko Rantanen of Dallas. He scored the game-winner in last week’s clincher against Washington. He has also avoided his past habit of taking untimely penalties, with only one trip to the penalty box in two rounds.

“The effort’s always been there,” said coach Rod Brind’Amour. “What you’re seeing out of him through these two rounds anyway is he’s impactful even when he’s not on the scoresheet. You just kind of notice him.”

So far in these playoffs, no player on the Florida Panthers has more points than Brad Marchand, and no one has spent more time on the ice than Seth Jones.

They are the latest proof that Bill Zito has been making smart decisions.

The Panthers’ general manager and president of hockey operations made two of the biggest trade-deadline moves in the NHL, bringing in Marchand from Boston and Jones from Chicago to strengthen the defending champions’ chances at another title.

It’s clear those trades paid off. Marchand has 12 points in the playoffs, tied with Eetu Luostarinen for most on the team. Jones scored the opening goal in Florida’s 6-1 Game 7 win over Toronto in the second round. When Florida plays the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final on Tuesday, both Marchand and Jones will be key players.

“On the ice, they’ve been, shall I say, as advertised,” Zito said.

Many didn’t expect those trades to happen. Jones still had five years left on his deal with Chicago, and even though the Blackhawks are covering 26% of his salary, Florida is still committed to paying around \$35 million. Marchand had spent his entire career with Boston — a team that’s been a rival of Florida — so it wasn’t expected that the Bruins would be willing to trade him to the Panthers.

Jones and Marchand were welcomed like long-time members of the team from the beginning. Zito made sure they felt that way.

“One of the main things that surprised me was it’s easy to be complacent, especially after they won a Cup and I wasn’t sure how that was going to feel, but coming in you can just feel the drive to win another one and just be better every single day,” Jones said. “And that’s individually, each guy, all the way from our best players, our first-liners to our fourth-liners. Every guy wants to get better and learn and play for one another so It’s awesome to be a part of.”

Zito didn’t go after Marchand and Jones just for their names or reputations. The Panthers had real needs during the season, with penalty killing being at the top of the list.

So Zito made it happen. The result: the Panthers are in the Eastern Conference Final for the third year in a row, just four wins away from another Stanley Cup Final appearance.

“You credit Bill Zito and his group,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “We went into the trade deadline feeling that was the place that we need to get better. Again, we lost some important killers from our team last year. And he delivered.”

This is what Zito has been doing since he became the Panthers’ GM in 2020. He was at last year’s championship parade in the middle of a thunderstorm, already knowing that the roster would look different the next day. Some players were set to leave. He had replacements in mind. There wasn’t much room in the budget, so the new deals had to be the right ones, or the team’s chances of staying at the top would be hurt.

So far, it’s all working. He signed Nate Schmidt, who is now a key part of the defense. He brought in A.J. Greer, who led the team in hits in Game 7 at Toronto along with Sam Bennett. He signed Tomáš Nosek, who played a big role in the comeback win in Game 3 against Toronto that may have turned the series. And he did all that while managing to give contract extensions to Sam Reinhart, Dmitry Kulikov, Anton Lundell last summer, and another one to Carter Verhaeghe in the fall.

These are just some of the recent moves that add to Zito’s strong record. He also brought Matthew Tkachuk from Calgary, convinced Paul Maurice to return to coaching, and signed captain Aleksander Barkov to a long-term deal that could keep him with the Panthers for his whole career.

“I think the conventional wisdom is that it’s going to be hard for any team to get back to the Stanley Cup Final, let alone win it, three years in a row,” said hockey legend Mark Messier, now an analyst with ESPN. “I’ve got to give all the credit to Bill Zito, Paul Maurice, the coach, the scouting staff. They continue to replace players that they lose with new players that seamlessly seem to fit into their culture and their style of play.”

Zito has been in the conversation for GM of the year before and should be a top candidate again. But he often points to the team around him — he may be in charge, but he makes sure others in the organization can speak up and be heard before big decisions are made.

“We rely significantly on the scouts, on the analytics guys to identify players, and then we try to find ways to fit pieces into the puzzle,” Zito said. “And it’s not always the most expensive or the least expensive. It’s the best fit. It’s the best fit for that part. And our guys have done a fantastic job of identifying people who would be a fit, and also at a price point that we think we can get them in.”

It didn’t matter that the Florida Panthers had just played a tough Game 7 on the road only 48 hours earlier to make it to the Eastern Conference final.

It also didn’t matter that they were facing a loud, unfriendly crowd or a team that hadn’t lost a home game yet and had been very strong at killing penalties.

Instead, the Panthers calmly took control against the Carolina Hurricanes, quickly took away their home-ice advantage, and played with the kind of confidence you’d expect from the current Stanley Cup champions in their 5-2 win in Game 1 on Tuesday night.

“I don’t know if it’s a statement,” said Carter Verhaeghe, who scored a power-play goal halfway through the first period to give Florida the lead and keep Carolina behind for the rest of the game. “They’re going to come back with their best. We’re just trying to go in and play our game every single time.”

According to Verhaeghe and coach Paul Maurice, this wasn’t some perfect, unstoppable performance. There were a few issues, as the team had to adjust after playing Tampa Bay and Toronto—teams that play a different kind of hockey. Maurice explained that those teams rely more on speed through the center of the ice, while Carolina focuses on a strong forecheck to keep pressure and control in the offensive zone.

“I think the best growth in our team comes off losses,” Maurice said. “I think that’s where we learn more. I didn’t love our game tonight. But I understood it. Significant style change, so the Game 1 is that first look at what your game looks like in a completely different opponent.”

Maybe so, but their performance still worked just fine.

The Panthers had just come off a 6-1 win in Game 7 of the second round against the Maple Leafs on Sunday. That win set up a repeat of last year’s Eastern final, which the Panthers won with four straight one-goal victories, including a dramatic Game 1 that went into four overtimes and ended with a Matthew Tkachuk goal in the sixth-longest game in NHL history.

Florida waited until Monday to fly to Carolina so they could stick to their usual routine of staying in the road city after games to rest and recover. Then they handled this game with much less drama compared to that wild game in 2023, this time against a Hurricanes team that had won all five of its home playoff games and had been resting since beating the top-seeded Washington Capitals the previous Thursday.

“We know what to do and we know the recipe and our identity,” said fourth-line forward A.J. Greer, who scored an important goal in the second period to bring the lead back to two goals.

Verhaeghe began by getting open near the crease during a power play in the first period, then backhanded a rising puck past Frederik Andersen into the top right corner of the net. This quick goal came against a Carolina penalty kill that had only allowed two goals in 30 attempts over the previous two rounds.

Aaron Ekblad scored four minutes later, giving Florida a strong 2-0 lead. Then, after Sebastian Aho got a goal that bounced off his skate in the final seconds of the first period, Greer answered by scoring off a perfect 2-on-1 pass from Niko Mikkola. Sam Bennett added another power-play goal in the third period with Brad Marchand blocking the goalie’s view.

Eetu Luostarinen added a goal to make it 5-1 after the game had already been decided. That made it five different players scoring and 11 players getting at least one point.

Meanwhile, Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves in another solid game against Carolina. One of his best moments came when he lost his stick but still made a glove save on Jack Roslovic’s shot from the slot in the second period.

“They’re going to do the same thing we’re doing,” said Carolina captain Jordan Staal. “You can tell they do very similar stuff and they try to grind you down too. They’re here for a reason, they know how to do it well.”

By the end of the game, the only extra excitement came from a third-period scuffle between Marchand and Carolina’s Shayne Gostisbehere. Gostisbehere said he shot the puck at Marchand after the veteran player, who was picked up from Boston at the trade deadline, took “a run at me.” Marchand ended up with a game misconduct and had to be led off the ice by an official while yelling back toward center ice.

That fiery finish matched the mood of Florida’s win.

“Our depth has been incredible all year and especially in the playoffs,” Bennett said. “Every line is showing up, all our defense, Bobi obviously. But it really has been a full team effort every single night and it makes it a lot easier when you have every guy stepping up and playing like that.”