ECF Game 1: Panthers Keep on Rolling, Blow Out Hurricanes

It may be two years later, but the Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes looked like they picked up right where they left off in Game 1 of the 2025 Eastern Conference finals.

In 2023, the Panthers and Hurricanes played as tight a series as one could get, with all of Florida’s wins coming by a single goal — two coming in overtime, and the fourth in the final seconds of the third period.

This looked like that.

Until it didn’t.

The Panthers, two days removed from ending their second-round series in Toronto, started taking it to the Hurricanes around the midway point of the first and got a 5-2 win in Game 1.

With the win, the defending Stanley Cup champions took home ice advantage in the best-of-7 series; Game 2 is in Raleigh on Thursday night.

Aside from the tight play, there were plenty of fireworks as well.

With the Panthers up 3-1 in the second, Andrei Svechnikov appeared to run Sergei Bobrovsky, making contact to the goalie with his knee.

In the third, former Jr. Panther Shayne Gostisbehere took exception to a late check from Brad Marchand — then fired a point-blank shot at the Florida pest.

Marchand, as one might expect, went after Gostisbehere and ended up being tossed from the game.

There were also the usual skirmishes that broke out throughout the game.

Between the whistles, Florida played about as well as it could.

The Panthers controlled possession while building their lead, limited scoring chances — and were able to break through Carolina’s stifling defensive play.

Carter Verhaeghe opened the scoring on the power play at 8:30 of the first, with Aaron Ekblad making it 2-0 four minutes later.

The Hurricanes got a soccer goal to close the first, but A.J. Greer got it back early in the second off a terrific feed from Niko Mikkola.

Florida did not get off a shot for a long chunk of the game, but when it did, Sam Bennett cashed in by scoring on a power play at 6:08 of the third with Marchand shading Frederik Andersen.

The Panthers made it 5-1 when Tomas Nosek beat Gostisbehere to a puck behind the net, then fed it to a wide-open Eetu Luostarinen in front of the net.

Florida has won its past three road games in these playoffs, all in blowout fashion.

Counting the 6-1 wins at Toronto in Games 5 and 7, the Panthers have outscored their road opponents 17-4 in the past three playoff games.

Six of Florida’s nine playoff wins this year have come on the road.

Bobrovsky had 31 saves.

ECF GAME 1: PANTHERS @ HURRICANES

• Rod Brind’Amour, who played in 28 games in the Conference finals (14-14), was trying to get his first win in the ECF as a coach. During his time with the Paul Maurice-led Hurricanes, Brind’Amour played 406 regular-season games and 47 more in the playoffs — including four ECF games in 2009.
• Bobrovsky (36) and Andersen (35) are the first two starting goalies over 35-years-old to start a conference final game since Game 7 of the 2011 ECF between Tampa Bay’s Dwayne Roloson (41) and Boston’s Tim Thomas (37).
• Sasha Barkov (22-48, 70) assisted on the opening goal and became the first player in Panthers history with 70 career postseason points. He also became the seventh Finnish player to reach the mark.
• Verhaeghe has scored at least five goals in each of the past four postseasons, matching Leon Draisaitl for the longest active run among all players.

SCORING: PANTHERS @ HURRICANES

• Panthers 1, Hurricanes 0 (8:30 1st PP): Sasha Barkov zips a pass to Carter Verhaeghe in front of the net and he corrals the puck and pops in a hard backhanded shot over the head of Frederik Andersen.
• Panthers 2, Hurricanes 0 (12:29 1st): Jordan Staal loses the puck deep in the zone, Evan Rodrigues tracks it down along the end boards and finds Aaron Ekblad in the left circle for a wrist shot.
• Panthers 2, Hurricanes 1 (19:45 1st): The Hurricanes get a break, Seth Jarvis’ shot going off the right skate of Sebastian Aho as he skates back toward the net. The goal is reviewed for kicking, but it is deemed a redirect.
• Panthers 3, Hurricanes 1 (3:33 2nd): Niko Mikkola’s speed sets up a 2-on-1 rush — and then he sends a backhanded pass to A.J. Greer who finishes it with a top-shelf knock.
• Panthers 4, Hurricanes 1 (6:08 3rd PP): Sam Bennett gets off Florida’s first shot on goal in a span of 15 game minutes — but his wrister from the high slot, with Brad Marchand running blocker, beats Andersen.
• Panthers 5, Hurricanes 1 (14:55 3rd): Tomas Nosek slips a pass from the end board to a wide-open Eetu Luostarinen in front of the net.
• Panthers 5, Hurricanes 2 (16:19 3rd PP): Jarvis gets in front and scores.

FHN’S 3 STARS OF GAME 1

• 1. Sergei Bobrovsky, Florida
• 2. Tomas Nosek, Florida
• 3. Carter Verhaeghe, Florida

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
• 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)