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Playoff Preview: Only the Hurricanes stand in the way of the Panthers and a third consecutive Stanley Cup Final
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Photo credit: © Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
May 20, 2025, 18:00 EDTUpdated: May 20, 2025, 16:11 EDT
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It’s not the first time the Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes have met in the Conference Finals.
The Panthers played a hard-fought series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, defeating them with ease in Game 7 to move to their third consecutive Conference Finals. On the other hand, the Carolina Hurricanes disposed of the New Jersey Devils and the Washington Capitals in five games each.
Carolina has made the Conference Finals five other times since moving from Hartford in 1997-98. They defeated the Maple Leafs in six games back in 2002, falling to the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Finals. In 2006, they defeated the Buffalo Sabres in seven games, obviously, everyone knows what happened next.
Their other three appearances have ended the same way, with the Hurricanes being swept. First was in 2009, when the Penguins beat them in four games. In 2019, it was the Boston Bruins turn, before their were swept in their most recent Conference Finals in 2023.
That Conference Final was against the Panthers. Once again, the Hurricanes were swept, but all four games were of the one-game variety. In Game 1, Matthew Tkachuk scored with 13 seconds left in the fourth overtime to win the game. Both Sergei Bobrovsky and Frederik Andersen stood on their head, facing 60 shots each in the 3-2 game.
The second game also went to overtime with Tkachuk scoring the game-winning goal, but he did so less than two minutes into the period for the 2-1 victory. Game 3 shifted to Sunrise, Florida, as the Panthers were the eighth-seeded team. Only one goal was scored in that game, as Sam Reinhart scored midway through the game, as Bobrovsky saved 32 shots.
It looked as if Game 4 was going to go to overtime as well, as the game was tied 3-3 in the final minute thanks to Jesper Fast’s goal with 3:22 left. However, Tkachuk once again found the game-winner with just five seconds left to complete the sweep.
After the series, Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour noted that people would look back and notice the sweep, saying that’s not what actually happened. At the time, it was easy to clown the head coach, but two years later, you can see what he means.
In all four games, the Hurricanes outshot the Panthers. The closest game was Game 1, with the Hurricanes firing 65 shots on Bobrovsky, while the Panthers responded with 60 shots. Game 2 saw the Hurricanes outshoot the Panthers 38-26, Game 3 the shots were 32-17, and in Game 4, the shots were 39-24.
Advanced stats back this up as well. In all situations, the Hurricanes had a 7.22 expected goals for compared to a 4.92 expected goals against. Game 2 saw the Hurricanes have an expected goals for of 4.68, compared to a 2.59 expected goals against. The closest game was Game 3, as the Hurricanes had an expected goals of 2.67 to a 2.65 expected goals against. In Game 4, the Hurricanes had an expected goals of 4.36, compared to 3.58 expected goals against.
At the end of the day, all that matters is real goals. Bobrovsky (and Tkachuk) were the reason the Panthers won that series, as the netminder made 168 saves on 174 shots for an incredible .966 save percentage.
Heading into this series, the goaltending battle evidently favours the Hurricanes. Leading the league in save percentage by far is Frederik Andersen, who has a .937 save percentage. Bobrovsky has a .901 save percentage.
It’ll be an interesting series to watch, as both teams have improved since their matchup two seasons ago. Despite the sweep, that was a close series, and you can expect the same starting Tuesday.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. They can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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