The battle for the Prince of Wales Trophy began on Tuesday night in Raleighwood as the Carolina Hurricanes welcomed the Florida Panthers for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Matching up for the second time in three seasons, the Canes sought revenge against the defending champs after being swept in 2023.
Frederik Andersen and Sergei Bobrovsky took the nets for their respective teams, dueling as they did two years ago. Andersen was phenomenal in Carolina's five-game victory against Washington, and Bobrovsky has played all 12 of Florida's games this postseason. Jalen Chatfield missed his second straight game, allowing Scott Morrow to make his postseason debut.
The referees had toilet paper on their shopping list during the first period because a Charmin-soft call against Sebastian Aho cut a Hurricanes power play short and gave Florida one. After responding to a slash by Anton Lundell, Aho was given the gate. On the ensuing chance, Carter Verhaeghe lifted a backhander over Andersen's shoulder to open the scoring early for the Panthers.
Florida's lead expanded due to poor puck management by the captain. Evan Rodrigues was on the spot to set up Aaron Ekblad. Andersen had no chance of stopping it as Morrow set a perfect screen. The Canes got one back in the final minute after Aho legally redirected a puck with his skate under Bobrovsky, giving the fans life as the home team entered the intermission down a goal.
The momentum failed to carry into the second period for the Hurricanes. Florida's fourth line jumped in and restored the Panthers' two-goal lead early in the frame. Niko Mikkola feathered a perfect pass around Morrow, finding AJ Greer. With Andersen stretched out, Greer lifted it over his blocker to silence the crowd again.
After allowing the early-period marker, the Hurricanes played a solid second. They had some defensive lapses, but the offense started to gain traction. Unfortunately, Bobrovsky was on the spot. His best save of the frame came against Jack Roslovic in the slot. Seth Jarvis also had a golden chance that he tipped just over the net. The Cats maintained their two-goal advantage through two.
Morrow's rough playoff debut snowballed early in the third period. His aerial flip from the defensive zone landed in the crowd, giving the Panthers another power play. Florida went over 16 minutes without a shot, but their first shot of the third found the back of the net. Sam Bennett threw a puck from the blue line through layers of traffic to effectively put the nail in the coffin.
Former Hurricane Eetu Luostainen made his presence felt by adding the Panthers' fifth goal after being left alone in the slot. Jackson Blake ended the night by scoring a garbage-time power-play goal for the Hurricanes, pulling them back within three. By the final horn, tensions were high, and the Panthers skated off victorious after a 5-2 thrashing in the series opener.
The Hurricanes matched Florida's physicality early in the game. By the end of the night, it was clear the Panthers had trapped the Hurricanes into playing their game. The testier things got, the more it played into the Panthers' hands. Florida got the Canes out of sorts to start the night before slowly chipping away at them.
There was an interesting exchange between Shayne Gostisbehere and Brad Marchand in the third, ending the latter's night. Marchand took a run at Gostisbehere, but the Canes' defenseman dodged it. Gostisbehere fired the puck at Marchand from beyond the red line to retaliate, sending the Panther into a frenzy. I won't speak to the play's intent, but that'll be something to watch moving forward.
Defensive breakdowns and missed assignments made life miserable for Frederik Andersen on Tuesday. I don't think he had a chance on any of Florida's five goals. He was screened to a frustrating degree twice, left out to dry two more times, and couldn't do anything about the 2-on-1 play early in the second. I don't anticipate we'll see Scott Morrow in the lineup on Thursday.
Are there any positives the group can take from this game? Sure. Their first period was solid, outside of two glaring mistakes that ended up in their net. Their push at the end of the period netted them a goal from the top line. They also played exceptionally well during the second half of the middle frame. Now, they need to find a way to get Sergei Bobrovsky off his game and score a few more goals.
Game 2: Tensions will be at a fever pitch for the second game on Thursday. Game 1 showed Jalen Chatfield's value, especially on the penalty kill. I'm crossing my fingers that he'll be ready to jump into this series. His added level of physicality will be nice, too. It's only the first game, so there's plenty of series remaining. If this repeats in Game 2, we might need to brace for the worst.