The Florida Panthers were an unstoppable force, and the Carolina Hurricanes were a very movable object. That was the story of Game 2 on Thursday night as the Panthers walloped the Hurricanes, 5-0, to take a 2-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference final.
Much like Game 1, there was simply no doubt about which team was going to win this one. The Lenovo Center was rocking at puck drop, but it got quiet very quickly and remained that way for three periods.
A big reason for that was the way the Panthers defended from top to bottom — from the first line to the third defensive pair. Whether it was in the offensive zone or right in front of Sergei Bobrovsky, every black jersey had a white jersey on its hip.
The Panthers limited the Hurricanes to just 17 shots, which is quite the feat. No one likes to shoot more than Carolina, which ranked second in the NHL in shots on goal and first in shot attempts during the regular season. In fact, some would say the Canes shoot too much and could afford to be more picky.
That was not an issue on Thursday because the Panthers simply didn’t give them any options.
The biggest beneficiary of that defense was Bobrovsky, who notched his third shutout of the postseason.
Gustav Forsling jumped into the play just 1:17 into the game and buried a feed from Matthew Tkachuk to give Florida an early lead. That was the Panthers’ 13th goal from a defenseman in these playoffs, which is a franchise record just two games into the third round.
As the first period wore on, the Panthers’ forecheck overwhelmed the Hurricanes, and they extended their lead to 3-0. Tkachuk got his fourth of the postseason, and Sam Bennett netted his eighth.
In the second, the score only got worse for the Hurricanes when Bennett finished a beautiful feed to from Carter Verhaeghe to make it 4-0.
To pour a little salt in the wound, Aleksander Barkov cashed in on the power play late in the third to give us our final score.
It wasn’t all good news for the Panthers, however. In the first period, Sam Reinhart took an awkward hit in the leg from Sebastian Aho and did not return to the game. That will be something to monitor ahead of Game 3.
The Hurricanes have now lost 14 straight conference final games, and they have been schooled in both games at home this time around. If Carolina is going to keep its season alive, it’ll have to go into enemy territory and beat a team that has outscored it by eight goals thus far.
Eastern Conference Final schedule
All times Eastern, you can stream the entire series on fubo (try for free)
Game 1: Panthers 5, Hurricanes 2 | Recap
Game 2: Panthers 5, Hurricanes 0 | Recap
Game 3: Saturday, May 24 | 8 p.m. | at FLA | TNT, truTV
Game 4: Monday, May 26 | 8 p.m. | at FLA | TNT, truTV
*Game 5: Wednesday, May 28 | 8 p.m. | at CAR | TNT, truTV
*Game 6: Friday, May 30 | 8 p.m. | at FLA | TNT, truTV
*Game 7: Sunday, June 1 | 8 p.m. | at CAR | TNT, truTV
Hurricanes vs. Panthers odds
Odds via DraftKings
- Series odds: Panthers -650, Hurricanes +475
- Game 3 odds: Panthers -142, Hurricanes +120
