The Eastern Conference Final opened on Tuesday night with the Florida Panthers rolling to a 5-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Here are some key takeaways from their victory.
Can anybody beat Florida four times?
This really is the million-dollar question for the playoffs. Tampa Bay beat the Panthers once in the first round. Toronto managed to get three wins in the second round.
But it is not a race to two or three wins. It is a race to four wins. The idea of somebody beating this Panthers team four times in a seven-game stretch just seems really hard to comprehend given the way they are playing — as well as the way they have played over the previous two postseasons.
With back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances and now three consecutive Eastern Conference Final appearances, there should be no doubt as to how good this team is, especially in crunch time in the playoffs.
But there is also sometimes a physical toll that comes with that much hockey over a two- or three-year window. Teams can break down or slow down. They can get tired.
It never seems to happen with this Panthers team as they just keep getting stronger and stronger.
Every possible ingredient and wish-list item you could have for a team exists on this roster.
They have stars at the top of the lineup in Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Reinhart.
They are as deep as any team in the league with 17 different players scoring at least one goal in these playoffs.
They are incredibly well-coached and have one of the most aggressive forechecks and playing styles in the league.
They can beat you any way you want to try and play them. They can outscore you, they can grind their way to a low-scoring win, they can fight you, they can skate with you and they can shut down your stars.
They are the favorite in every series they play until somebody actually knocks them off.
It’s just hard to imagine somebody doing that anytime soon.
Carolina’s Eastern Conference Final struggles continue
Here is a somewhat baffling statistic to ponder: Tuesday’s loss was the Hurricanes’ 13th consecutive loss in the Eastern Conference Final round — and the ninth straight under head coach Rod Brind’Amour.
They were swept in each of their past three Conference Final appearances, losing four straight games to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009, four straight to the Boston Bruins in 2019 and four straight to the Panthers in 2022.
That losing streak continued on Tuesday.
It is another harsh reminder that the Hurricanes can keep getting to the front door of the Stanley Cup Final, they can keep loudly knocking on it, but they have been unable to actually get inside.
Sergei Bobrovsky keeps building his legacy
Narratives can change quickly in pro sports, and Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky is one of the best examples for that.
The biggest knock on him early in his career was that for all his regular-season success (including two Vezina Trophies), he was never able to put it together the same way in the playoffs. He had some infamous playoff meltdowns as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets, but he has completely flipped that storyline around since joining the Panthers.
Tuesday was another postseason gem for him as he stopped 31 of 33 shots, including some great Hurricanes chances early in the game when the score was still within reach.
He has already put together a Hall of Fame resume for himself with the two Vezina Trophies, 429 (and counting) regular-season wins and back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances (with a ring). If he adds another championship, and a back-to-back one at that, he goes from slam-dunk Hall of Famer to potential first-ballot Hall of Famer.
