George Richards, FHN Publisher
The Florida Panthers are expecting to get the absolute best from the Carolina Hurricanes tonight in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals.
The Hurricanes, who hold an ignominious NHL record with 13 straight losses in conference final games, should be desperate to get a home win against the Panthers after losing 5-2 in the opener on Tuesday.
“When you lose a game, especially at this point, the teams that have come this far are able to rebound,’’ Brad Marchand said. “We expect the best game out of Carolina tonight. You have to be completely prepared to match that, and what they’re going to bring.’’
Florida will bring back the same lineup as in Game 1, but the Hurricanes could have another change.
Defenseman Jalen Chatfield is day-to-day and missed Game 1, replaced by rookie Scott Morrow who was minus-3 and committed the delay of game penalty which led to Sam Bennett’s power-play goal.
If Chatfield misses tonight, with Morrow or Alexander Nikishin could come in.
Per NHL.com, Jesperi Kotkaniemi skated with the extras on Wednesday and could potentially be replaced in the lineup by Mark Jankowski.
ECF GAME 2: PANTHERS @ HURRICANES
- How to Watch: Tonight’s game is available on TNT and truTV in the United States, and Sportsnet, CBC, and TVAS in Canada. It can also be streamed on Max.
- Starting Goalies: The Panthers will, surprise!, stay with Sergei Bobrovsky, who has allowed six goals in his past five games. Carolina counters with Frederik Andersen, who gave up a total of 12 goals in nine playoff games before allowing five in Game 1.
- NHL Betting Odds: The local book has Carolina as a slight favorite (-130) on the money line. If you think the Panthers will win, a $100 bet pays $110.
- Subscribe to the FHN YouTube Channel to hear from the Florida Panthers throughout the postseason.
2025 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS
EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: GAME 2
FLORIDA PANTHERS @ CAROLINA HURRICANES
Panthers lead Best-of-7 Series 1-0
- When: Thursday, 8 p.m.
- Where: Lenovo Center; Raleigh, N.C.
- National TV: TNT/truTV
- National Streaming: Max
- Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
- Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
- Betting Odds — Hurricanes Favored: Money Line (-130); Puck line (-1.5, +180); Over/Under 5.5 (+105/-130)
- Series Schedule (all games on TNT/tru, 8 p.m.) — Game 1: Florida 5, Carolina 2; Game 2: Thursday @Carolina; Game 3: Saturday @Florida; Game 4: Monday, May 26 @Florida; Game 5*: Wednesday, May 28 @Carolina; Game 6*: Friday, May 30 @Florida; Game 7*: Sunday, June 1 @Carolina
- This Regular Season (Panthers Won 2-1) — At Florida: Panthers 6, Hurricanes 0 (Nov.30); Hurricanes 3, Panthers 1 (Jan. 2). At Carolina: Panthers 6, Hurricanes 3 (Nov. 29).
- How They Got Here: Carolina d. New Jersey (5), Washington (5); Florida d. Tampa Bay (5), Toronto (7).
- All-Time Regular Season Series: Carolina/Hartford leads 74-49-10, 11 ties
- Postseason History: Florida 1-0 (2023 ECF in 4)
PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS (1-0) LINES
17 Evan Rodrigues // 16 Sasha Barkov // 13 Sam Reinhart
23 Carter Verhaeghe // 9 Sam Bennett // 19 Matthew Tkachuk
27 Eetu Luostarinen // 15 Anton Lundell // 63 Brad Marchand
10 A.J. Greer // 92 Tomas Nosek // 12 Jonah Gadjovich
42 Gus Forsling // 5 Aaron Ekblad
77 Niko Mikkola // 3 Seth Jones
88 Nate Schmidt // 7 Dmitry Kulikov
72 Sergei Bobrovsky
41 Vitek Vanecek
Scratched: Mackie Samoskevich, Jesper Boqvist, Nico Sturm, Uvis Balinskis, Jaycob Megna, Evan Cormier
PROJECTED CAROLINA HURRICANES (0-1) LINES
37 Andrei Svechnikov // 20 Sebastian Aho // 24 Seth Jarvis
71 Taylor Hall // 96 Jack Roslovic // 22 Logan Stankoven
48 Jordan Martinook // 11 Jordan Staal // 28 William Carrier
50 Eric Robinson // 82 Jesperi Kotkaniemi // 53 Jackson Blake
74 Jaccob Slavin // 8 Brent Burns
7 Dmitry Orlov // 26 Sean Walker
4 Shayne Gostisbehere // 56 Scott Morrow
31 Frederik Andersen
52 Pyotr Kochetkov
Scratched: Tyson Jost, Riley Stillman, Juha Jaaska, Alexander Nikishin, Ty Smith, Spencer Martin
Injured: Jalen Chatfield (undisclosed), Mark Jankowski (undisclosed)