Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 40: Panthers eliminate Hurricanes, advance to third consecutive Stanley Cup Final

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are back, which means that for the next two months, we’ll get non-stop exciting action in the NHL as we witness history in another team looking to win a championship. Here at Daily Faceoff, we’ll be keeping you in the loop of everything that happened in the playoffs, every day until the Stanley Cup is hoisted in June.

The Carolina Hurricanes got off to about as good a start as they could have hoped in Game 5, with Sebastian Aho scoring twice to give them a 2-0 lead against the Florida Panthers. But a three-goal flurry in a 4:36 span in the second period and a late goal from Carter Verhaeghe eventually led to a Panthers a 5-3 win, eliminating the Hurricanes in five games and advancing to the Stanley Cup Final for a third straight season.

Aho’s two goals came at 4:39 and 18:54 of the first period, and the Hurricanes went into the second period with a two-goal advantage and plenty of momentum. But after a Jesperi Kotkaniemi holding penalty, Matthew Tkachuk scored his fifth of the postseason to cut the deficit to one. Just 30 seconds later, Evan Rodrigues buried his first of the playoffs off a give-and-go with Sam Bennett to tie the game 2-2.

A little more than four minutes later, Anton Lundell’s faceoff win found the stick of Brad Marchand, who fed Lundell out front for his fifth of the playoffs to give the Panthers a 3-2 lead going into the third.

Midway through the third period, the Hurricanes took advantage of a Florida turnover, and a bouncing puck found Seth Jarvis’ stick, beating Segei Bobrovsky blocker side to tie the game 3-3. But minutes later, Panthers’ captain Aleksander Barkov shook off Dmitry Orlov and stick handled his way in front of the Canes’ net, finding Verhaeghe for his sixth of the postseason to make it 4-3.

Bennett would score an empty netter to seal the 5-3 victory, clinching the series for the Panthers and eliminating the Hurricanes in five games.

The Panthers now await the winner of the Western Conference Final between the Edmonton Oilers and Dallas Stars. The Oilers are up 3-1, with Game 5 in Dallas Thursday night.