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The Florida Panthers advanced to their third consecutive final of the Stanley Cup with a 5-3 victory in game 5 of the East Conference finals on Wednesday night at the Lenovo Center.
It was also the second consecutive year that the team did not play the Prince of Wales trophy, which is awarded to the Eastern Conference champion.
It worked for the Panthers last year, since they defeated the Edmonton Oilers in seven games and won their first championship in the history of the franchise.
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The Florida Panthers center, Aleksander Barkov, Center, and the NHL attached commissioner, Bill Daly, on the right, pose with the Prince of Wales trophy at the end of game 5 of the Eastern Conference East Conference of the NHL Stanley Cup on Wednesday, May 28, 2025 in Raleight, North Carolina. Now they advance to the Stanley Cup finals. (Photo AP/Chris Seward)
While the Panthers ended up winning game 5, it didn’t start well for them. Hurricanes jumped to a 2-0 advantage in the first period while capitalizing Panthers’s gifts.
The Panthers responded with three goals from the second period to take an advantage of 3-2. Hurricanes eaves, Seth Jarvis, tied the 3-3 game in the third period while looking to extend their season, but they would not find the background of the network again.
After a sensational individual effort along the tables behind the hurricane network, the center of the Panthers, Aleksander Barkov, found Carter Verhaeghe with a slippery pass, and Verhaeghe buried the album on the network and gave the Panthers a 4-3 advantage.
“He faced a boy, then two guys and then gave me the album with a fairly open network,” said Verhaeghe about Barkov’s key attendance. “So it was an incredible play by Barky in a critical moment.”
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The Hurricanes Center of Carolina, Seth Jarvis, #24, crashes against the Florida Panthers Sergei Bobrovsky goalkeeper, #72, during the second period of game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals of the NHL Stanley Cup on Wednesday, May 28, 2025 in Raleight, North Carolina. (Photo AP/Chris Seward)
Sam Bennett achieved victory for Panthers with an empty network goal with 54 seconds in the game.
This was the second time in three years that the Panthers had defeated the hurricanes in the East Conference finals, but the celebration of the Panthers after the victory this time was much more moderate.
“I remember that a few years ago, he felt like an achievement (doing the Stanley Cup final) from where we were at one point,” said forward Matthew Tkachuk, adding: “It’s everything possible and we have a bigger goal in mind.”
The chief coach of the Panthers, Paul Maurice, said that his team that exceeded the early deficit of two goals is what makes the hockey great.
The Florida Panthers downtown, Anton Londell, #15, celebrates its goal with the Brad Marchand Center, #63, and the wing of the left Jonah Gadjovich, #12, while Carolina’s goalkeeper Hurricanes Frederik Andersen, #31, and the Sebastian Aho Center, #20, reaction during the second period 5 of the NHL Hockey Cup Stanley Cup Cup Easternwern Finals Finals 28, 2025, 2025, 2025, 2025, on Wednesday of the NHL Stanley Conference Conference, on Wednesday 28, on Wednesday 28, on Wednesday of the Conference of the NHL Stanley conference, on Wednesday of the NHL conference conference. Raleight, North Carolina. (Photo AP/Chris Seward)
“That were all the elements that make our sport great,” Maurice said. “They are upon us. And we are serving pizzas, and we don’t think we should have reached the playoffs, and then the next thing you know is that we see each other quite well.”
The Panthers will play the winner of the Oilers and Dallas Stars series. The oilers have a 3-1 advantage over the stars of Dallas with game 5 on Thursday night at 8 pm et.
If the oilers end up defeating the stars and advancing, they have the opportunity to take revenge on the Panthers for the final defeat of the Stanley Cup last season.
