2025 Stanley Cup Final
Watch This: Barkov Leaves Panthers Speechless, Hurricanes Stunned

Florida Panthers captain Sasha Barkov slipped on a brand new Eastern Conference champions baseball cap as he skated over to accept the Prince of Wales Trophy from NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly on Wednesday night.
This slow skate came not long after Barkov made a play behind the net that left his teammates — and television commentators — at an immediate loss for words.
“He, he is incredible,’’ Brad Marchand told Jackie Redmond on TNT’s postgame show after the Panthers beat the Hurricanes 5-3 in Game 5 to win the Eastern Conference finals for a third straight year.
“There is so much more respect after playing with him than against him.’’
Wednesday night, with the score tied at 4 in the third period, Barkov creates a turnover deep in the offensive zone with a big hit on Jordan Martinook, keeping the puck in.
When he gets the puck back along the halfwall, Barkov drives around the net.
Despite being held by Carolina defenseman Dmitry Orlov, Barkov muscled through, the cuts toward the net — and sends a slick, cross-ice pass to a wide-open Carter Verhaeghe on the left post.
Verhaeghe drilled the sharp-angled shot giving the Panthers a lead they would not give up.
”I haven’t watched the replay, but he is so elite,’’ Verhaeghe told Redmond. “You beat a guy one-on-one and then it came to me and I was wide open. I can’t believe he passed it. He is such a great players. Great play by him. It was all him.’’
Said Barkov: “I saw Verhaeghe by himself there, it was on my backend, so I thought he would have a better chance to score from there.”
When the Panthers traded for Jaromir Jagr in 2015, it was not just to get a future Hall of Famer — it was hoping he would help their rising young stars in Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau.
One of the lasting impressions Jagr left on Barkov was his off-ice work, and how to be strong on the puck.
Orlov did not play Barkov perfectly by any means, but in a position like that, no one is taking that puck from Florida’s captain along the wall.
“That’s the beauty of Sasha Barkov: He has that ability, but doesn’t try that all the time,’’ coach Paul Maurice said. “He is not forcing that part of the game, not ‘I’ll try this move whether it goes good or bad.’ He picks his spots. He can sense when it is the right time to do something.’’
Now, the Panthers are going to the Stanley Cup Final for a third straight time and will try to defend their championship against either Edmonton or Dallas starting next week.
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

Watch Sasha at the 0:30 mark on that video. He said something to Verhaeghe on the entry. I believe he knew exactly what he was going to do there and set Verhaeghe up there before he even picked up the puck.