After 27 years, the Florida Panthers have made it to the Stanley Cup Final, beating the Carolina Hurricanes in just four games in the Eastern Conference final. The Panthers will now play either the Vegas Golden Knights or the Dallas Stars, with the series standings currently at 3-0 in Vegas’ favor. Matthew Tkachuk was the star of the show for Florida, scoring two goals in the final game including a last-second winner to clinch the win. Sergei Bobrovsky was also impressive in goal, saving 36 shots to end the series with a .966 save percentage.
The Panthers, who had never won a playoff series before last season, were the No. 8 seed in this year’s playoffs, making their route to the final all the more impressive. “It’s amazing,” said Bobrovsky. “We showed the resilience… and we’re lucky to have ‘Chucky’ on our side. He knows how to score big goals.”
NHL Senior Vice President Brian Jennings presented the Prince of Wales Trophy to the Panthers, with captain Aleksander Barkov grabbing it and skating it away. “It’s hard to explain right now. Everything just happened so quick,” said Barkov. “It means a lot. It definitely does…It hasn’t been easy and nobody said it’s going to be easy.”
The Hurricanes were left disappointed after the loss, although coach Rod Brind’Amour acknowledged that the series could have gone differently with just a small change or two. “Everyone’s going to say, ‘You got swept.’ That’s not what happened,” he said. “We were in those games. It could have been four games the other way.”
The win marks the closest that the Panthers have ever gotten to winning the Stanley Cup, having been swept by the Colorado Avalanche in 1996. Tkachuk, who arrived at the Panthers last summer, has made it clear that he wants to bring Florida a Cup, and with four games left to play, he is now closer than ever to realizing that dream.
The series may be over for the Hurricanes, but it has been an impressive year for the team, who were the 113-point division champions in the regular season. Carolina will now turn its attention to the off-season and preparing for next year’s campaign.
Finally, some notes from around the rink: Panthers GM Bill Zito was announced as a finalist for NHL GM of the year on the day of the final game, Tkachuk’s two goals extended his Florida single-season playoff record to 21 points, and Slavin was ruled out for the remainder of the game with an upper-body injury after a hit from Bennett. Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel also made an appearance at the game, banging the drum before the start of the final game.
