The Panthers Were Ready for a Hurricanes Party. It was Spoiled

SUNRISE — The Florida Panthers were ready for a celebration Monday night, only the Carolina Hurricanes were the rude guests who ate all the food, shotgunned the beers, ordered a bunch of mediocre strip mall pizzas and left without paying.

After completely dominating the Hurricanes in the first three games of the Eastern Conference finals, it was certainly a foregone conclusion that the Panthers would run off with Game 4 and simply waltz into the Stanley Cup Final for a third straight year, right?

Right?

Meh.

Carolina came correct on Monday night, played like the Maple Leafs did in Game 6 of Round 2 and did not let the Panthers get anything easy in a 3-0 win that sent this series back to the cozy confines of Raleigh, N.C.

The Panthers and Hurricanes are old running buddies from the NHL’s Southeast Division and Monday night felt like one of those days when the Panthers, regardless of what they did, just couldn’t do anything right against Carolina.

There was even a Staal — Jordan this time, not Eric — drawing an embellishment call that Ed Belfour really, really tried to get back in 2006.

That’s an old reference, but hey, we here at FHN are like Pepperidge Farm: We remember.

Anyway, the Panthers had a chance to put the Hurricanes away Monday night and simply did not do it.

Carolina has been beaten down for the way they have played in this series and, despite what Rod Brind’Amour and Paul Maurice publicly claim, most of it has been deserved.

Florida outscored Carolina 16-4 in the first three games but the Hurricanes seemed to forget all that Monday.

“We can enjoy it for a little bit,’’ said Brind’Amour, whose team had not won a game in the Eastern Conference finals since he scored the game-winner against Buffalo in Game 7 back in 2006 — a run of 15 straight losses.

“There has been a lot of crap thrown on this team.”

We here at FHN don’t approve of that kind of language, but Brind’Amour is right.

The ‘crap’ hit the fan on Monday night for the Panthers after they dominated the Hurricanes in Games 1-3.

But now, there is light at the end of that shothole.

A win Wednesday in Raleigh, and this is a completely different series.

Altogether.

This is a completely different series.

FLORIDA PANTHERS / FHN

• Someone is watching Airplane later today…
• Maurice tried (he didn’t try too hard) to be diplomatic Monday night, but made it clear he was not happy with the way his team showed up in Game 4.
• Remember that story about Brad Marchand eating Dairy Queen during intermission?
• Turns out, he was just huffing honey.
• Frederik Andersen was pretty, pretty good on Monday.
• Killer instinct? The Panthers did not have that in Game 4.
• The Panthers have some injury stuff to deal with.
• Not looking ahead, eh?

• So, how can the Panthers be such a pain on the ice — but a pretty good bunch off of it? Maurice explains it with what will forever be known as the ‘shotgun a beer in church’ theory.
• The Charlotte Checkers open the AHL ECF tonight at the Laval Rocket near Montreal. Best-of-7 series to see who plays for the Calder Cup.
• Don’t forget to subscribe to the FHN YouTube channel to watch video interviews with the Florida Panthers throughout the postseason. Monday brought more video tape than Tom Hanks used up in Castaway. You don’t even need a Blockbuster card.

NHL LINKS

• Mattias Ekholm could be back for the Oilers in Game 4.
• But Roope Hintz may return for the Stars.
• The Detroit Red Wings have a number of offseason moves to consider.
• Mitch Marner to the Vegas Golden Knights? Why he does – and does not – make sense.

2025 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: GAME 5

FLORIDA PANTHERS @ CAROLINA HURRICANES

Panthers lead Best-of-7 Series 3-1

• When: Wednesday, 8 p.m. 
• Where: Lenovo Center, Raleigh
• 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: Florida 6, Carolina 2; Game 4: Carolina 3, Florida 0; Game 5: Wednesday @Carolina; Game 6*: Friday @Florida; Game 7*:Sunday @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)