RALEIGH, N.C. — So much for being physically and emotionally fatigued after opening the Eastern Conference final only two nights after a Game 7 win in Toronto.
Like the experienced, deep team vying to repeat as Stanley Cup champions that they are, the Florida Panthers waltzed into the Triangle on Tuesday and defeated their longtime foe the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 at Lenovo Center.
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Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett scored power-play goals, Aaron Ekblad scored Florida’s league-leading 12th goal from a defenseman, A.J. Greer scored for the second time this postseason and Eetu Luostarinen added a goal as the Panthers won for the 38th time in the past three postseasons. Vergaeghe finished with two points and Evan Rodrigues two assists.
The Canes suffered their first home loss of the postseason (5-1) in a building where they had outscored their previous two opponents 21-8 and won 31 times in the regular season. Their losing streak in the conference final reached 13 games after being swept in their previous three trips (2009, 2019 and 2023).
The Panthers improved to 6-2 on the road in the playoffs with a plus-20 goal differential (38-18).
Sebastian Aho scored what could have been a momentum-turning goal by redirecting Seth Jarvis’ pass off his right skate in the waning seconds of the first period. But Greer’s goal 3:33 into the second doused that momentum.
Jackson Blake added a late goal for the Canes.
Teams that win Game 1 of a best-of-seven series own an all-time series record of 534-250 (.681), including 9-3 during the 2025 playoffs. The winner of Game 1 in a best-of-seven final-four series holds an all-time series record of 114-54 (.679).
This story will be updated.
(Photo of Sam Bennett and Nate Schmidt: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
This news was originally published on this post .
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