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Florida Panthers advanced to their third consecutive Stanley Cup final with a 5-3 win in Game 5 in the eastern conference final on Wednesday night at the Lenovo Center.
It was also the second year in a row that the team did not touch Prince of Wales Trophy, awarded to the eastern conference master.
It worked for Panthers last year as they continued to defeat Edmonton Oilers in seven matches and won their first championship in franchise history.
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Florida Panthers Center Aleksander Barkov, Center and NHL -Vice Commissioner Bill Daly, right, with Prince of Wales Trophy at the end of Game 5 in the NHL Hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Finals Wednesday, May 28, 2025 in Raleigh, North Carolina. They are now moving on to the Stanley Cup final. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)
While Panthers ended up winning Game 5, it didn’t start well for them. The hurricanes jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period when they capitalized on Panther’s gifts.
Panthers responded with three goals in the second period to take a 3-2 lead. Hurricanes’ Frem Seth Jarvis tied the game 3-3 in the third period as they seemed to extend their season, but they wouldn’t find the back of the net again.
After a sensational individual effort along the boards behind the hurricanes nets, Panthers Center Aleksander Barkov Carter Verhaeghe found with a smooth pass, and Verhaeghe buried the puck in the net and gave Panthers a 4-3 lead.
“He went to a guy, then two guys and then gave me the puck with a rather open net,” Verhaeghe said of Barkov’s key assistant. “So it was an incredible play of Barky at a critical time.”
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Carolina Hurricanes Center Seth Jarvis, #24, goes down in Florida Panthers goalkeeper Sergei Bobrovsky, #72, during the second period of Game 5 in the NHL Hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Finals Wednesday, May 28, 2025 in Raleigh, North Carolina. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)
Sam Bennett got the victory for Panthers with an empty goal of 54 seconds left in the game.
This was the second time in three years that Panthers had defeated the hurricanes in the eastern conference final, but the Panthers’ celebration after the victory this time was much more muted.
“I remember a couple of years ago, it felt like such a performance (doing the Stanley Cup final), from where we were at one point,” Matthew Tkachuk said, adding, “it’s all business and we have a bigger goal in mind.”
Panthers’ head coach Paul Maurice said his team, who overcomes the early two-goal deficit is what makes Hockey great.
Florida Panthers Center Anton Lundell, #15, celebrates his goal with Center Brad Marchand, #63, and left wing Jonah Gadjovich, #12, while Carolina Hurricanes goalkeeper Frederik Andersen, #31, and Center Sebastian Aho, #20, responds in the second period in Game 5 in NHL Hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Finals 28 years Raleigh, North Carolina. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)
“It was all the elements that make our sport great,” Maurice said. “They are everywhere in us. And we serve pizzas and we don’t look like we should have done the playoffs, and then the next thing you know we look pretty good.”
Panthers plays the winner of the Oilers and the Dallas Stars series. Oilers have a 3-1 lead over Dallas Stars with Game 5, coming Thursday night at. 20 et.
If Oilers end up defeating the stars and moving on, they have a chance to take revenge on the Panthers for last season’s Stanley Cup last defeat.
