If you didn't know any better, you would have thought this was Game 5 of the 2023 Eastern Conference Final.

It was tense, it was physical, it was nasty... it was the closest thing you'll get to the NHL playoffs before April.

"It felt almost like we were right back at it the way it was last year," said Rod Brind'Amour

The Carolina Hurricanes went toe-to-toe once again with the Florida Panthers, but unlike last year when the team came up short in four straight one-goal games, this time, the Canes were singing a different tune.

All night, it was a close back-and-forth affair.

"There's history between these two teams," said Sebastian Aho. "You've gotta love to play these games. They're a little heated and the crowd was electric, so gotta love it."

Sergei Bobrovsky and Pyotr Kochetkov were going save for save, turning aside chance after chance, grade-A after grade-A.

But one play made the difference. 

With the clock counting down, Jesper Fast collected a loose puck in the defensive zone and instead of trying to force a breakout to a streaking Dmitry Orlov, he instead found Andrei Svechnikov in transition coming through the neutral zone.

"That was a great play by him," Brind'Amour said on Fast. "First of all, getting it under control and then not only making a play, but making the right one. He had to process all that, so that's really what gets the puck to our best player and then he made it count."

Svechnikov picked up the pass and drove through the center of the ice, drawing the Panthers in, before he released a quick wrist shot. 

The Russian forward's shot was blocked, but the rebound popped out to Sebastian Aho who was trailing the play.

And with Svechnikov's drive, there wasn't a single Florida skater near Aho so the Finn spun and fired a quick shot beating Sergei Bobrovsky short-side high with just 18.9 seconds remaining on the clock.

"It was unreal," Aho said. "You've gotta love playing these games. Two very good teams, crowd was on their feet. That was just the good stuff. You just want to come out on the winning-side of these games and we were able to get that game-winner at the end. It felt good, not going to lie, especially with how I missed the empty-netter. It felt extra special. Crucial time of the game, that's pretty much a guaranteed win when you score that late."

The Canes held on to secure the win, but a little extra feistiness broke out between the two teams, with even Kochetkov jumping into the scrum.

"I no want fight, I just want control," Kochetkov said. "Panthers have six boys, my team had five boys. These guys no touch my guys."

"These guys no touch my guys."