All indications pointed to the Florida Panthers ending the Carolina hurricane in Game 4, but the cane continued to roll the series with a 3-0 victory on Monday.
Will the Panthers end the story in Game 5? Or will the Hurricane send the festival back to South Florida again?
We will bet Intel from ESPN Research’s matchup notes heading into Wednesday’s Game 5 and ESPN BET.
Game 4 details: Summary | Results
Matchup Notes
Carolina Hurricane Florida Panthers
Game 5 | 8pm ET | TNT
The Panthers’ odds to win the series are -1600, adjusting from -5000 towards Game 4. The hurricane odds shifted to +750 (adjusted from +1500) after the win. The Panthers’ odds for winning the Cup are currently +105 (formerly -110) and the wand is now +1800. Sergei Bobrovsky is a leading Conn Smythe candidate for this series, followed by Aleksander Barkov (+800).
Game 4 was the Cane’s first victory in the round since Game 7 of the 2006 Eastern Conference Finals against the Buffalo Sabres, losing the 15-game conference final. For the team in the round before the Stanley Cup Finals, it was the longest winning streak in NHL playoff history. The Hurricanes always went 4-4 in Game 4 when tracking 3-0 in the Best Seven Series.
Editor’s Pick
2 Related
Frederick Andersen made 20 saves on his second career playoff shutout in the Hurricane. He joins Camward (4), Kevin Weeks (2) and Petr Merazek (2) as goaltenders with multiple playoff shutouts in Whaler/Hurricane Stanley Cup playoff history.
Carolina’s Logan Stancoven scored the playoff goal No. 5 in his second term. He joined Eric Cole (6 in 2002) and Warren Foguere (5 in 2019) and scored at least five goals in one Stanley Cup playoffs as the only rookie in Whaler/Hurricane history.
Sebastian Aho scored an empty net goal in the third term, his 32nd career playoffs Tally. This expands his own franchise record for career goals in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Panthers were locked out for the second time this postseason. Both games were at home. Another instance was Game 6 of the second round series with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Florida went 0-4 on Game 4 power play. The team went 4-5 in games 1 and 2 before going 0-8 in man advantage in the final two games of the series.
He hasn’t scored goals in the last two games, but Sam Bennett has nine leading the team this postseason. This is two shy people in the franchise record for one playoff year, currently being held by Matthew Tokachuk (2023) and Carter Werhage (2024).
Scoring Leader
GP: 16 | G: 6 | A: 9
GP: 14 | G: 5 | A: 9
