Florida Panthers Got a Big Game from their Biggest Stars

If there were ever any doubts about what the Florida Panthers did in their lopsided win over the Hurricanes in Game 1, they were dispelled moments into the first period of Thursday’s Game 2.

Some strong forechecking by Matthew Tkachuk and ‘Playoff’ Sam Bennett got the puck to a charging Gus Forsling for a quick wrister to put the Panthers up 1-0 before some fans found their seats.

It was the Panthers’ depth which helped them reach the Conference final, but Thursday, it was the big boys who dominated the Hurricanes.

Bennett picked up two goals and an assist in Florida’s 5-0 win.

Tkachuk broke a nine-game drought when he redirected a wraparound pass from Carter Verhaeghe for the second goal.

Sasha Barkov, not to be denied, topped off the night with a deflection of an Aaron Ekblad shot from the point past Pyotr Kochetkov — who relieved Frederik Andersen to start the third period.

Paul Maurice was very pleased with the work of the Verhaeghe-Bennett-Tkachuk line.

Of course he was.

The Panthers, after all, bring a 2-0 lead back home in the best-of-7 series.

“I thought you saw a really veteran game out of those guys,’’ Maurice said. “Because a lot of what we gave up in Game 1 they were on the ice for. They gave up an awful lot on the rush, mostly out of aggressiveness and trying almost too hard.

“They settled their game a bit and let the forechecker be aggressive and they kind of read off each other. … They were very, very good tonight.”

Florida’s forechecking, and backchecking, were flawless in holding the Hurricanes to only 17 shots on goal, with an anemic seven shots over the first two periods.

The first three Florida goals came on its first five shots in the game.

Carolina looked like they made one bad play after another. The fans who cheered them loudly at the start were quickly silenced and there were a smattering of boos and derisive cheers when Kochetkov made saves in the third period.

It didn’t take long for Carolina to lose all the semblance of discipline.

Andrei Svechnikov took a retaliatory roughing penalty against Tkachuk at 14:07 of the first period.

Bennett scored on the ensuing power play to give Florida a 3-0 lead and destroy any chance of a Carolina comeback.

After the game, Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour was clearly not happy about Svechnikov’s penalty and turnovers.

“You need to be on the same page,’’ Brind’Amour said, :and he was on his own page tonight a little bit and it didn’t work.”

Brind’Amour made it a point to give Florida credit for their relentless play.

“We’ve got to just figure out how to win a period,’’ Maurice’s former captain said. “We came out with the right intentions, but it was trying to do too much and then we’re not doing the things we normally do as a team. I didn’t know what I was watching in the first period.”

Maurice has always favored his defensemen joining the rush which makes the Panthers so hard to defend against. It partially explains their playoff-leading 3.93 goals per game.

So far, 18 different Panthers have lit the red light.

Bennett is tied with the Stars’ Mikko Rantanen for the playoff goal lead with nine.

The defense has a total of 13 goals. Every defenseman who played in the playoffs so far has at least one goal.

Tkachuk said he was somewhat surprised by the way the Panthers dominated the game.

“When you look at it, you go from a Game 7 into a Game 1,’’ Tkachuk said. “Those are high intense games — as riled up as you’re going to get.

“It might have been natural to take a little bit to get going tonight but it was the exact opposite. It was an unreal start from us. The goals aside, just the way we played in the first period, is as good as it gets. It’s just a hell of a road trip.”

Yes it was.

Now, the story continues in Sunrise on Saturday.

2025 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: GAME 3

CAROLINA HURRICANES @ FLORIDA PANTHERS

Panthers lead Best-of-7 Series 2-0

• When: Saturday, 8 p.m. 
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• 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: Florida 5, Carolina 0; Game 3: Saturday @Florida; Game 4: Monday @Florida; Game 5*: Wednesday @Carolina; Game 6*: Friday, May 30 @Florida; Game 7*: Sunday, June 1 @Carolina
• Regular Season: Panthers Won 2-1
• 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)