Florida rookie defenseman Uvis Balinskis scored his first NHL goal in the victory

The first rematch of last season’s Eastern Conference Final did not disappoint in terms of entertainment value.

Florida played a tight, physical game against the Carolina Hurricanes Friday at Amerant Bank Arena, earning an impressive 5-2 victory and improving its record to 8-4-1.

The night got off to a fast start as by the time the game hit the 3:01 mark, both teams already had goals on the board.

Sergei Bobrovsky could only stop two of a three-shot sequence that ended with a goal by Jesperi Kotkaniemi, and exactly 101 seconds later Matthew Tkachuk took a nice cross-ice feed from Carter Verhaeghe and beat Canes goalie Antti Raanta with a slick backhand-forehand move to the things up at one.

Back and forth play, along with some solid goaltending, is what dominated the remainder of the period.

That is until Panthers rookie defenseman Uvis Balinskis scored his first NHL goal off a perfect feed from Tkachuk with just over a minute left in the first period.

Florida extended its lead to 3-1 midway through the second on a tidy passing sequence by the top line. The play would end with the puck on Sasha Barkov’s tape, but only for a second as he one-timed the puck past Raanta.

The Hurricanes would answer late in the period thanks to a friendly rebound off Bobrovsky’s pads. Both of Carolina’s goals had come directly off rebounds, an area that Bob really appeared to struggle on Friday.

An insurance goal would come with just under seven minutes to courtesy of a gorgeous deflection by Verhaeghe of a Gus Forsling point shot.

Officials initially waived it off, thinking Verhaeghe’s stick was over the crossbar, but video review would prove the play was legal.

Kevin Stenlund would add one of the sharpest angle empty-net goals you'll ever see to put a cherry on top of Florida's third straight win. 

Here are some thoughts and observations from Friday’s tilt with Carolina:

Tkachuk was a fight away from registering a Gordie Howe Hat Trick.

Recently, Bobrovsky had been commended for an improvement in the rebound control department, but this game was a step backwards.

Florida’s captain is now riding a four-game points streak. Barkov has 3 goals and 6 points during the run.

The Panthers were a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty kill, allowing exactly zero shots to the Hurricanes while they were up a man. 

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