What - Game 1 (0-0/8-2)
When - 8 p.m., Tuesday, May 20
Where - Lenovo Center; Raleigh, NC
How to Watch - TNT, MAX, CBC, Sportsnet, TVAS

The Carolina Hurricanes will look to avenge their 2023 sweep at the hands of the Florida Panthers in an Eastern Conference Final rematch.

The Canes made it to the ECF with five game wins over both the New Jersey Devils and Washington Capitals, while the Cats made it with a five-game win over the Tampa Bay Lightning and a seven-game win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The two have been titans of the East for a while now and it should be an intense and physical series between two teams with similar styles.

Streaks

• Seth Jarvis (2g, 5pts) has points in four straight games.
• Andrei Svechnikov (3g) has scored in three straight games.
• Jordan Martinook (2a), Jordan Staal (1g, 1a) and Sean Walker (1g, 2a) have points in back-to-back games.

Milestone Watch

• None

Game Notes

• This is the second postseason meeting between the two franchises, having also played in the 2023 Eastern Conference Final. Florida won that series 4-0.
• There's a lot of familiar faces on both sides as Florida has former Canes Gustav Forsling, Eetu Luostarinen, Paul Maurice and Tuomo Ruutu. Carolina has former Panthers Riley Stillman and Florida-born Shayne Gostisbehere.
• The Hurricanes have appeared in the conference final three times since winning the Cup in 2006 (2009, 2019, 2023). They are 0-12 in those appearances.

• Carolina has won a league-leading 36 games at home this season and are undefeated at Lenovo Center this postseason (5-0)
• Taylor Hall (5g, 8pts, 7gp) is a point-per-game player against the Panthers in the postseason.

Key Matchups

Projected Starting Goalies

• Frederik Andersen: 7-2; 0.937 Sv%; 1.36 GAA
• Sergei Bobrovsky: 8-4; 0.901 Sv%; 2.31 GAA

Leading Scorers

• Goals - Andrei Svechnikov (8) / Sam Bennett (6)
• Points - Sebastian Aho & Seth Jarvis (10) / Eetu Luostarinen & Brad Marchand (12)

Power Play

• Carolina - 28.1% (9/32)
• Florida - 20.5% (8/39)

Penalty Kill

• Carolina - 93.3% (28/30)
• Florida - 89.5% (34/38)

Hurricanes Projected Lineup

Andrei Svechnikov - Sebastian Aho - Seth Jarvis
Taylor Hall - Jack Roslovic - Logan Stankoven
Jordan Martinook - Jordan Staal - William Carrier
Eric Robinson - Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Jackson Blake

Jaccob Slavin - Brent Burns
Dmitry Orlov - Sean Walker
Shayne Gostisbehere - Scott Morrow

Frederik Andersen
Pyotr Kochetkov

Injuries and Scratches: Tyson Jost, Mark Jankowski, Juha Jaaska, Alexander Nikishin, Riley Stillman, Ty Smith, Spencer Martin, Jalen Chatfield (undisclosed), Jesper Fast (neck)

Panthers Projected Lineup

Evan Rodrigues - Aleksander Barkov - Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe - Sam Bennett - Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen - Anton Lundell - Brad Marchand
A.J. Greer - Tomas Nosek - Jonah Gadjovich

Gustav Forsling - Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola - Seth Jones
Nate Schmidt - Dmitry Kulikov

Sergei Bobrovsky
Vitek Vanecek

Injuries and Scratches: Ulvis Balinskis, Jesper Boqvist, Evan Cormier, Jaycob Megna, Mackie Samoskevich, Nico Sturm

Be sure to check out the Carolina Hurricanes 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs Hub for all postseason stories!   

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