Florida Panthers Book Ticket to the Stanley Cup Final

One of the more improbable runs in NHL history will officially continue. 

The Florida Panthers have shocked the hockey world for yet another time during the 2022-23 playoffs, defeating the Carolina Hurricanes with a last-second goal on Wednesday night to sweep the series and advance to the Stanley Cup final. 

This marks the first time since 1996 that the Panthers have come four wins away from glory, with their last attempt, unfortunately, ending in defeat. 

Now, the NHL's most improbable underdogs have a shot at redemption. 

Where do you even begin with this team? It starts in net, with Sergei Bobrovsky returning to his elite, Vezina-caliber form to put forth one of the most dominant stretches of goaltending in playoff history to completely shut the Hurricanes down. 

It extends to Matthew Tkachuk, the prized off-season acquisition who represented a major shift in organizational philosophy. He buried Carolina with two straight overtime winners in Games 1 and 2 and a series-clinching goal in Game 4 that came with four seconds left on the clock. 

It continues through a solid blueline upheld by Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour, a deep forward corps led by 40-goal man Carter Verhaeghe, wrecking ball Sam Bennett, and unflappable captain Aleksander Barkov. 

And it stops with Paul Maurice, whose laissez-faire but firm demeanor behind the bench seems to be exactly what the Panthers need. 

Since going down 3-1 to the Presidents' Trophy-winning Boston Bruins, the Panthers have now reeled off a remarkable 11-1 run, taking down three of the Eastern Conference's top teams en route to the Cup final. The only explanation is magic. And with a little more, the Stanley Cup could be heading to South Florida. 

They now await their final opponent of the playoffs, but the Vegas Golden Knights could also get to their second Cup final in franchise history as soon as Thursday as they hold a 3-0 series lead over the Dallas Stars.