Panthers look every bit like reigning Stanley Cup champs in routing Hurricanes to open Eastern final
- RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — It didn’t matter that the Florida Panthers were playing 48 hours since having to win a Game 7 on the road to reach the Eastern Conference final.
- Nor did it matter they were playing in front of a rowdy hostile crowd, against a team that had yet to lose at home and had been lockdown-elite on the penalty kill.
- Instead, the Panthers methodically jumped on the Carolina Hurricanes, immediately ripped away home-ice advantage and played with an edge befitting their status as reigning Stanley Cup champions in Tuesday night’s 5-2 win in Game 1.
- “I don’t know if it’s a statement,” said Carter Verhaeghe, who had a power-play goal midway through the first period to put Florida ahead and keep Carolina in chase mode for good. “They’re going to come back with their best. We’re just trying to go in and play our game every single time.”
- To listen to Verhaeghe and coach Paul Maurice, it wasn’t the result of some lights-out performance of relentless perfection. There were hiccups in transitioning from series against Tampa Bay and Toronto, teams with different styles that rely on, as Maurice said, being “so dynamic up the middle of the ice” compared to a different rush style with a Carolina team that relies on a an aggressive forecheck to pressure and control the puck in the offensive zone. Related Stories
- “I think the best growth in our team comes off losses,” Maurice said. “I think that’s where we learn more. I didn’t love our game tonight. But I understood it. Significant style change, so the Game 1 is that first look at what your game looks like in a completely different opponent.”
- Maybe so, but it was more than good enough.
- The Panthers were coming off a 6-1 win on Sunday in Game 7 of the second-round series against the Maple Leafs. That set up a rematch of the 2023 East final swept by the Panthers by four one-game margins, including a four-overtime thriller in that Game 1 that ended on Matthew Tkachuk’s winner during the sixth-longest game in NHL history.
- The Panthers waited to fly to Carolina on Monday to stick with their usual postgame routine of staying in the road city to rest and recover. Then they went on to take care of this game with far less theatrics need to win that epic ’23 opener, this time against a Hurricanes team that was 5-0 at home in the playoffs and had been off since closing out the conference’s top-seeded Washington Capitals last Thursday.
- “We know what to do and we know the recipe and our identity,” said fourth-line forward A.J. Greer, who had a critical second-period goal to restore a two-goal margin.
- “I don’t know if it’s a statement,” said Carter Verhaeghe, who had a power-play goal midway through the first period to put Florida ahead and keep Carolina in chase mode for good. “They’re going to come back with their best. We’re just trying to go in and play our game every single time.”
- To listen to Verhaeghe and coach Paul Maurice, it wasn’t the result of some lights-out performance of relentless perfection. There were hiccups in transitioning from series against Tampa Bay and Toronto, teams with different styles that rely on, as Maurice said, being “so dynamic up the middle of the ice” compared to a different rush style with a Carolina team that relies on a an aggressive forecheck to pressure and control the puck in the offensive zone. Related Stories
- “I think the best growth in our team comes off losses,” Maurice said. “I think that’s where we learn more. I didn’t love our game tonight. But I understood it. Significant style change, so the Game 1 is that first look at what your game looks like in a completely different opponent.”
- Maybe so, but it was more than good enough.
- The Panthers were coming off a 6-1 win on Sunday in Game 7 of the second-round series against the Maple Leafs. That set up a rematch of the 2023 East final swept by the Panthers by four one-game margins, including a four-overtime thriller in that Game 1 that ended on Matthew Tkachuk’s winner during the sixth-longest game in NHL history.
- Instead, the Panthers methodically jumped on the Carolina Hurricanes, immediately ripped away home-ice advantage and played with an edge befitting their status as reigning Stanley Cup champions in Tuesday night’s 5-2 win in Game 1.
- “I don’t know if it’s a statement,” said Carter Verhaeghe, who had a power-play goal midway through the first period to put Florida ahead and keep Carolina in chase mode for good. “They’re going to come back with their best. We’re just trying to go in and play our game every single time.”
- To listen to Verhaeghe and coach Paul Maurice, it wasn’t the result of some lights-out performance of relentless perfection. There were hiccups in transitioning from series against Tampa Bay and Toronto, teams with different styles that rely on, as Maurice said, being “so dynamic up the middle of the ice” compared to a different rush style with a Carolina team that relies on a an aggressive forecheck to pressure and control the puck in the offensive zone. Related Stories
- “I think the best growth in our team comes off losses,” Maurice said. “I think that’s where we learn more. I didn’t love our game tonight. But I understood it. Significant style change, so the Game 1 is that first look at what your game looks like in a completely different opponent.”
- The Panthers were coming off a 6-1 win on Sunday in Game 7 of the second-round series against the Maple Leafs. That set up a rematch of the 2023 East final swept by the Panthers by four one-game margins, including a four-overtime thriller in that Game 1 that ended on Matthew Tkachuk’s winner during the sixth-longest game in NHL history.