The Cats are heading back to Sunrise with a 2-0 lead in the conference final
Stop me if you’ve heard this before.
The Florida Panthers are heading home with a pair of series-opening wins in their pocket.
This unbelievable run by the eight-seed Panthers keeps gaining momentum, and now they’re two wins away from reaching the Stanley Cup Final.
Florida is playing perfect playoff hockey.
Low-scoring, tight-checking, gritty, grimey hockey is what the Panthers are mastering. They have won nine of their last 10 games, including eight straight on the road.
It’s also Florida’s superstars who are leading the way.
Captain Sasha Barkov and All-Star Matthew Tkachuk scored the goals, and once again it was Sergei Bobrovsky playing absolutely magnificent in goal.
Bobrovsky made another 37 saves in Game 2, and he’s now allowed two goals or less in seven consecutive playoff games.
He’s been the best goaltender in the playoffs and it’s really not even close.
As for Tkachuk, just as he did in Game 1, he immediately pointed to the exit door after scoring the game-winning goal in overtime, leading his teammates off the ice after a job well done.
Let’s get to the recap…it’s significantly smaller than the last one.
FIRST PERIOD
Carolina got on the board just 1:43 into the game on a nice deflection by Jalen Chatfield. He tipped quick feed from Sebastian Aho past Bobrovsky from the top of the crease to give the Hurricanes the early lead.
Moments after the goal Eric Staal rang the post behind Antti Raanta, who was called in to start in place of Frederick Andersen.
Gus Forsling thought he tied the game just 61 seconds after the Chatfield goal, but the play was called off due to Florida being offside.
Bennett tipped the puck through his legs as he crossed intot he zone, but it was ruled he didn’t have possession and the play was deemed offside.
Florida’s first power play of the game came at the 3:39 mark when Shayne Gostisbehere shot the puck over the glass from inside the Hurricanes’ zone, not that it was bad news for the Hurricanes and their ridiculously good penalty kill.
The Canes outshot Florida 6-0 during the Panthers’ power play.
No, that isn’t a typo.
Matthew Tkachuk logged the Panthers first shot on goal 32 seconds into the game. Carolina would record next 13 shots.
Sam Bennett was called for holding, his third minor penalty of the series, at the eight-minute mark of the first period.
The Hurricanes put another three shots on Bobrovsky during the power play but fortunately for the Panthers, they were able to get the kill.
Florida’s best pressure of the game to that point came courtesy of the Bennett line. Nick Cousins did well to win the puck behind Carolina’s net and Tkachuk caused all kinds of havoc in front of Raanta.
Raanta made another big stop moments later, sliding to his right and getting a blocker on Brandon Montour’s breakaway attempt after the high-scoring defenseman got behind the Carolina back line.
Jack Drury thought made it 2-0 for the home team after Mackenzie MacEachern grabbed a Radko Gudas attempt out of midair as he skated into Florida’s zone, leading to an odd-man situation that Drury took advantage of as a late zone entry.
Florida challenged the play, alleging that MacEachern had not yet crossed the blue line when he caught the puck.
The decision-makers agreed, and the goal was taken off the scoreboard.
When the period finally ended, it was one the Panthers were likely glad to put behind them and fortunate to escape trailing by only one.
Carolina held a 20-11 shot edge after twenty minutes and took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
SECOND PERIOD
Florida was much better in the early stages of the second period than they were for much of the first.
While they didn’t all result in shots on goal, the Panthers were generating opportunities in Carolina’s end and controlling play for extended periods of time.
Sasha Barkov was called for holding just under five minutes into the period, but Florida did a solid job on the penalty kill, and it’s a good thing.
Just 35 seconds after coming out of the penalty box, Barkov found himself all alone in on Raanta thanks to a great pass by Josh Mahura from the blue line.
Barkov went between the legs to get Raanta to go down, then brought the puck to his backhand and sent it over the now sprawling goaltender to the game at one.
The move by Barkov was slick as hell and froze Raanta long enough to cause him to go down and open up space for the shot.
Carolina turned up the pressure after the goal, with Seth Jarvis’ deflection getting stopped by the toe of Bobrovsky’s skate.
Raanta then made a stunning kick save on a quick shot by Sam Reinhert from the slot.
It appeared the game was finally evening out after a very one-sided start.
Bobrovsky got some help from Eric Staal, who blocked a backhand shot by Paul Stastny that may have been heading in the net. It came directly after Bob made three stops, one on Gostisbehere and then Stastny twice.
Perhaps the save of the game came not long after, when Bobrovsky was able to push to his right and get his blocker on a backdoor opportunity by Teuvo Teravainen after a perfect pass by Martin Necas.
Teravainen had the puck on his forehand and nothing but twine looking at him, but Bob made a huge push with his left leg and extended his right arm to get his blocker on the puck.
It was an incredible and timely save, one of the best by Bobrovsky in the playoffs, if not the best.
Gostisbehere was called for high-sticking Ryan Lomberg, giving the Panthers their second power play of the game at the 15:40 mark.
While they didn’t score, it was far and away better than their first time with the man advantage. Instead of being outshot 6-0, this time the Cats had the only two shots during the power play, perhaps giving them some confidence for future opportunities on the man advantage (wink wink).
The Panthers were far and away better in the second period than they were during the first, and thanks to Barkov’s goal, Florida and Carolina were back to even heading into the (we hope) final twenty minutes.
THIRD PERIOD
Raanta made a nice save on Bennett during the opening minute of the period after Tkachuk made a quick pass to find his center from behind the net.
Florida’s aggression was nice to see to start the period, and a welcomed change to how they began the game.
Bobrovsky came up big on Jordan Staal when he found himself alone down low on the Florida netminder about eight minutes into the frame.
Burns tried finding Jordan Martinook down low, but Tkachuk dove across the ice on his stomach to block the cross-ice attempt. He missed the pass but ended up blocking Martinook’s shot instead.
Either way, it was just the latest example of how every player up and down Florida’s bench was willing to sacrifice everything possible and give every ounce of energy on every shift.
Bob then stopped Staal with his glove after the Canes’ captain came in on a 2-on-1 with Martinook.
Lundell forced a turnover in Carolina’s zone and fed Colin White, who was coming down the slot with no one near him, but White went wide and couldn’t finish past a down and out Raanta.
About 30 seconds later, Gudas was called for tripping Chatfield, giving the Hurricanes a power play with 6:25 to go.
A big blocker stop by Bob on Necas and a great pass block by Marc Staal were the memorable moments from the penalty kill as Florida did a nice job limiting what Carolina could do.
The Hurricanes outshot Florida 8-3 during the third period but neither team could light the lamp.
For the second time in as many games, the Cats and Canes were heading to overtime.
OVERTIME
Right off the bat a Florida turnover led to a great chance for the Hurricanes.
Bobrovsky was able to get his right pad on a shot from in tight by Staal, keeping the overtime alive literally moments after it had begun.
Kotkaniemi took a hooking penalty on Mahura at the 1:39 mark of overtime that may have saved a goal. Mahura was striding toward a Bennett rebound opportunity and Kotkaniemi tied the defenseman up good and tight.
It would take a little more than 10 seconds for the Panthers to end the game.
Off the ensuing faceoff, Montour sent the puck into the corner toward Barkov.
Barkov won the puck and pushed it up to Bennett, who walked off the half boards and moved toward the net.
When a passing lane opened, Bennett fed Reinhart at the side of the crease, and he one-timed a pass to Tkachuk at the opposite side of the net.
Tkachuk slam dunked the puck into the yawning cage, scoring his second overtime winner in less than 48 hours.
Take a breath…the Panthers are heading home with a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Final.
GAME NOTES
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