Back to the Stanley Cup Final! Florida Panthers Rally in Carolina

After being completely manhandled by the Hurricanes in the first period Wednesday, the Florida Panthers turned things around in the second — and now, for the third straight year, are headed to the Stanley Cup Final.

Florida scored three goals in the second period then got another big goal from Carter Verhaeghe in the third and beat the Hurricanes 5-3 to win Game 5 of the Eastern Conference final and claim to the Prince of Wales Trophy for the third time in as many years and fourth time in franchise history.

The Panthers, who did not touch the trophy for the second straight time, will next play the winner of the Western Conference finals either June 4 or 7 in the 2025 Stanley Cup Final.

The Edmonton Oilers lead the Stars 3-1 with Game 5 in Dallas on Thursday.

If Edmonton advances, this would be the first rematch in the Final since the Penguins and Red Wings met for a second straight year in 2009.

Wednesday, the Panthers looked sloppy and a bit slow in a first period dominated by Carolina.

Sebastian Aho scored a pair of goals off the rush thanks to turnovers, and the Panthers did not look much like the defending Stanley Cup champions.

Things turned in the second.

Matthew Tkachuk got the Panthers going at 7:23 of the second, deflecting a power-play point shot from Aaron Ekblad to make it 2-1.

Just 30 seconds later, Tkachuk got a rush started with Evan Rodrigues scoring down low off a pass from Sam Bennett.

The Panthers got their first lead of the game at 11:59 of the second, Anton Lundell knocking home a shot from Brad Marchand while going hard to the net.

Carolina tied the score at 3 midway through the third, Seth Jarvis scoring on a failed clear deep in the Florida zone.

Up 4-3 on the Verhaeghe goal, Sam Bennett took a slashing call with 3 minutes left; the Hurricanes pulled goalie Frederik Andersen for the 6-on-4 but did not score.

Bennett, however, did. He slammed the puck into the empty net upon exiting the box with 53.4 seconds left.

Florida is now 10-0 when leading after the second period in this postseason — and Sergei Bobrovsky is a big reason why. He had 20 saves in the win.

The Panthers are the first team to reach the Stanley Cup Final in three straight years since the Tampa Bay Lightning did so from 2020-22 — meaning this will be the sixth straight year a team from the Sunshine State plays for the Cup.

But, if you only count full seasons (Tampa Bay’s first two trips were during Covid), the last team to accomplish the feat were Wayne Gretzky’s Oilers from 1983-85.

Since 2023, the Panthers have won 10 of 11 playoff series, including the past seven.

GAME 5: PANTHERS @ HURRICANES

• The Panthers lost Eetu Luostarinen late in the first period after a couple of big hits, including one in which he went for a hit and went hard into the boards. Luostarinen did not return for the start of the second period and was ruled out for the remainder of the game.
• Rodrigues became the 19th different player to score a goal for the Panthers this postseason. The Bruins (2019) and Flyers (1987) hold the record with 21.
• The Panthers went looking to win their third series clinching game on the road this postseason after doing so in Tampa Bay (Game 5) and Toronto (Game 7). The only teams in the past 10 years to have that many: Colorado (4 in 2022), Washington (4 in 2018) and Vegas (3 in 2018).
• Florida had never recorded a multi-goal comeback win to clinch a series. Three teams did it this postseason Winnipeg, Dallas, and Carolina.

SCORING: PANTHERS @ HURRICANES

• Carolina 1, Florida 0 (4:39 1st): Gus Forsling’s soft pass is picked off by Sebastian Aho who flies in and beats Sergei Bobrovsky under his glove.
• Carolina 2, Florida 0 (18:54 1st): Aho gets another Florida turnover in the neutral zone, this time from Niko Mikkola, and whips a shot from the top of the right circle.
• Carolina 2, Florida 1 (7:23 2nd PP): Florida wins the faceoff, Aaron Ekblad fires in a shot from the top of the slot and Matthew Tkachuk bunts it past Frederik Andersen.
• Florida 2, Carolina 2 (7:53 2nd): And, just like that, the rat turned. Evan Rodrigues gets the puck in transition from Tkachuk near the blue, slips to Sam Bennett along the half wall only to get the puck back. Rodrigues’ goal in front was his first in 15 playoff games.
• Florida 3, Carolina 2 (11:59 2nd): Anton Lundell wins the faceoff in the offensive zone, drags Aho to the front of the net and then gets a piece of a shot from Brad Marchand and puts it home.
• Carolina 3, Florida 3 (8:30 3rd): The Panthers cannot clear the puck in their zone, Seth Jarvis tracks down the puck in front of Bobrovsky and ties things up.
• Florida 4, Carolina 3 (12:21 3rd): Sasha Barkov carries the puck around the net, brings it around and sends a sharp pass across the ice to Carter Verhaeghe who buries a sharp-angled shot.
• Florida 5, Carolina 3 (19:06 3rd EN): Sam Bennett comes out of the penalty box and slams a puck into the empty net.

FHN’S 3 STARS OF GAME 5

• 1. Sergei Bobrovsky, Florida
• 2. Sasha Barkov, Florida
• 3. Carter Verhaeghe, Florida

2025 STANLEY CUP FINAL

GAME 1

FLORIDA PANTHERS @ DALLAS STARS/EDMONTON OILERS

Edmonton Leads Dallas 3-1 in Best-of-7 Series

• When: Wednesday, June 4 or Saturday, June 7
• Where: AmericanAirlines Center, Dallas/Rogers Place, Edmonton
• 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
• Radio Streaming: SiriusXM, NHL App
• Series Schedule: TBA

IF DALLAS

• Regular Season — Panthers Won 2-0 (Tampere, Finland): Florida 6, Dallas 3; Florida 4, Dallas 2 
• How They Got Here: Dallas d. Colorado (7), Winnipeg (6); Florida d. Tampa Bay (5), Toronto (7), Carolina (5)
• All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 28-21-2, 3 ties
• Postseason History: First meeting

IF EDMONTON

• Regular Season (Panthers won 2-0) — At Florida: Panthers 4, Oilers 3 (Feb. 27). At Edmonton:  Panthers 6, Oilers 5 (Dec. 16).
• How They Got Here: Edmonton d. Los Angeles (6), Vegas (5); Florida d. Tampa Bay (5), Toronto (7), Carolina (5)
• Postseason History: Florida Won 2024 Stanley Cup Final 4-3
• All-time Regular Season Series: Oilers lead 23-18-0, 3 ties