By Brian Murphy and Pat Welter, WRAL News
| Florida Panthers | 5 |
| Carolina Hurricanes | 2 |
| Final | |
Raleigh, N.C. —
Florida Panthers’ Carter Verhaeghe (23) celebrates his goal against the Carolina Hurricanes during first period of Game 1 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference finals in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)
For the first time in these playoffs, the Carolina Hurricanes find themselves trailing in a series.
The Florida Panthers snatched home-ice advantage and a 1-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference Finals with a 5-2 victory over the Hurricanes on Tuesday at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh.
Carolina was unbeaten at home in the first two rounds against New Jersey and Washington.
But the Panthers, the reigning Stanley Cup champions and seeking a third consecutive appearance in the final, present a bigger challenge for the Hurricanes.
“You got to finish,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “They’re too good a team. They’re going to get theirs. They got some real good high-end scorers, so when you get your opportunities, it may not be many … you got to find a way to put it by them.”
Carolina is seeking its first Cup appearance since 2006 and its first win in the conference final since the same year. The Hurricanes have lost 13 straight Eastern Conference Final games over four series.
Florida scored two power-play goals against the best postseason penalty kill in the NHL, handed Carolina goaltender Frederik Andersen his worst night of the postseason and kept the Hurricanes’ offensive-zone pressure from resulting in goals.
“You got the two power-play goals, I think that’s really the difference in the game,” Brind’Amour said. “You got to kill those. You got to give them credit. If you give them a chance, it’s in the net.”
Carolina had killed 28-of-30 penalties in the postseason, but Florida scored on two of its three chances in Game 1. Florida’s Carter Verhaeghe opened the scoring on the power play 8:30 into the game after Sebastian Aho was called for a roughing penalty after the whistle in retaliation to a hit from Anton Lundell.
“That can’t happen. It’s the wrong call,” Brind’Amour said. “At least should have been 50-50. Can’t take a cross check in the face and then call that. Now that leads to the first goal. So that’s going to happen. They’re going to miss stuff. It’s unfortunate because that ends up being in the end, puts us kind of behind the eight ball.”
What a ridiculous call by that referee. Just stupid. Aho has a right to be fuming.
— Paul Bissonnette (@BizNasty2point0) May 21, 2025
Sam Bennett scored on a power play in the third period to make it 4-1.
Andersen hadn’t allowed three goals in regulation in any of his nine postseason games this year, but yielded five on 20 shots against Florida. He entered the series sporting a 1.36 goals against average.
Four minutes after Verhaeghe opened the scoring, Florida’s Aaron Ekblad scored on a shot from the right faceoff dot after a defensive zone turnover by Jordan Staal.
Carolina scored with 14.8 seconds left in the first when Aho redirected a pass from Seth Jarvis with his right skate past Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, a Hurricanes’ killer in the 2023 matchup.
Whatever momentum the Hurricanes carried didn’t last long. Florida’s A.J. Greer opened the second period with a goal off a pass from Niko Mikkola just 3:33 into the period as the Panthers had a 2-on-1 against defenseman Scott Morrow, making his playoff debut in place of Jalen Chatfield who missed his second consecutive game with an undisclosed injury.
Morrow had a delay of game penalty that resulted in Florida’s second power play goal. Morrow was minus-3 in less than 12 minutes of ice time.
Chatfield’s status for Thursday’s Game 2 is uncertain, Brind’Amour said. Rookie Alexander Nikishin played in the finale of the second round and could be an option again if Chatfield is out.
It was 3-1 at that point, but Bennett and Eetu Luostarinen extended the edge to 5-1 in the third period before Carolina’s Jackson Blake scored the game’s final tally.
“We got to be better,” Staal said.
The Panthers won Game 7 in Toronto on Sunday night and flew straight to Carolina. The Canes wrapped up their series Thursday with a win in Washington. But it was Florida that was a bit sharper for most of the night.
Florida’s Brad Marchand, acquired from Boston at the trade deadline, earned a game misconduct penalty in the third period after he rushed at Carolina’s Shayne Gostisbehere. The two fought after Marchand took offense to Gostisbehere hitting him with a puck just after Marchand missed Gostisbehere with an elbow.
“Heated,” Gostisbehere said after the game. “I was pretty pissed off. He tried to take a run at me. I shot the puck at him. It is what it is. Had a little tussle.”
Game 2 is Thursday in Raleigh.
Carolina Hurricanes’ Seth Jarvis (24) controls the puck in front of Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) first period of Game 1 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference finals in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)
Carolina Hurricanes vs. Florida Panthers
Game 1: Florida 5, Carolina 2
Game 2: at Carolina, Thursday, May 22, 8 p.m. (TNT, 99.9 The Fan)
Game 3: at Florida, Saturday, May 24, 8 p.m. (TNT, 99.9 The Fan)
Game 4: at Florida, Monday, May 26, 8 p.m. (TNT, 99.9 The Fan)
Game 5: at Carolina (if necessary), Wednesday, May 28, 8 p.m. (TNT, 99.9 The Fan)
Game 6: at Florida (if necessary), Friday, May 30, 8 p.m. (TNT, 99.9 The Fan)
Game 7: at Carolina (if necessary), Sunday, June 1, 8 p.m. (TNT, 99.9 The Fan)
After each playoff game, WRAL’s Chris Lea and Pat Welter will break down the biggest moments with insider analysis from former NHL pro Shane Willis. Tune into WRAL at 11:25 p.m. for postgame coverage.
