For the second time this postseason, the Florida Panthers have opened a series with a pair of road wins.
After skating to an impressive victory in Game 1 against the Carolina Hurricanes, Florida jumped out to a big first period lead on Thursday night and never looked back, defeating Carolina 5-0 in Game 2 at Lenovo Center.
It didn’t take long for the Panthers to pick right back up where they left off.
The play started when Matthew Tkachuk recognized Carolina trying to break out of their own end so he jumped up to intercept an exit pass.
The puck went directly to Gus Forsling, who cut into the middle of the ice and beat Frederik Anderson over the glove to put Florida ahead 1-0 just 77 seconds into the game.
Both teams did well to limit the others’ opportunities, as there was a total of just four shots through the game’s first ten minutes.
Florida’s third shot would lead to their second goal.
After Sam Bennett forced a turnover in Carolina’s end with a hard check in the corner on an Andrei Svechnikov, Niko Mikkola pinched in and sent the puck behind the net to a waiting Carter Verhaeghe.
With Tkachuk in front of the net, Verhaeghe went to the near post, looking like he was going to attempt a wraparound shot. Instead, he slid the puck across the crease where a cutting Tkachuk got his stick on the puck and directed it past Anderson to double Florida’s lead at the 11:41 mark.
The game’s first power play came after an undisciplined roughing penalty taken by Svechnikov after he punched Tkachuk in the back of the head, and the Panthers would make them pay.
Verhaeghe picked up the puck after a shot attempt was blocked and found some space before firing a shot toward the net that was deflected by Sam Bennett past Anderson, and just like that it was 3-0 Florida with 4:10 left in the first period.
It wasn’t all good for Florida though, as during the power play, Sam Reinhart suffered a lower-body injury after taking a hit from Sebastian Aho and was ruled out for the rest of the game.
The second period wasn’t much better for Carolina.
After being held to only three shots after the opening 20 minutes, the Hurricanes were only able to muster four more during the middle frame, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped them all.
Florida, meanwhile, added a fourth goal late in the period.
Sam Bennett slammed home a rebound after a wraparound attempt by Verhaeghe to send the Cats into the intermission with a healthy four-goal lead.
Panthers Captain Sasha Barkov got in on the fun during the third period, scoring a power play goal on a nifty deflection of a shot by Aaron Ekblad.
Bobrovsky finished with 17 saves while logging his third shutout of the postseason.
The Panthers now head back to Sunrise with a commanding 2-0 series lead. If they can avoid losing four of the next five, they’ll be in the Stanley Cup Final for the third straight season.
On to Game 3.
QUICK THOUGHTS
Forsling became the 18th different Panthers player to score a goal during this postseason.
He has points in consecutive games for the first time during the playoffs.
Tkachuk has logged assists in back-to-back games and is up to seven over his past 10 outings.
His goal was his first since Game 3 against Tampa Bay.
Verhaeghe has five points in the two games against Carolina.
Bennett has scored goals in back-to-back games four different times this postseason.
He has nine goals and 13 points in 14 playoff games.
Since returning from injury for Game 7 against Toronto, Evan Rodrigues has logged four assists in three outings.
Aaron Ekblad has quietly put up nine points through 10 playoff games after logging a pair of helpers in Game 2.
Evan Rodrigues also had two assists, and he’s got five points in the three games he’s played since returning from injury.
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Photo caption: May 22, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Florida Panthers celebrate forward Sam Bennett (9) goal id2p- against the Carolina Hurricanes in game two of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Lenovo Center. (James Guillory-Imagn Images)
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