RECAP: Panthers 6, Hurricanes 2

SUNRISE, Fla. – So close they can taste it.

Taking a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Final, the Florida Panthers rode a five-goal third period to a wild 6-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 3 at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.

With just one more win needed to secure a third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final, the Panthers have outscored the Hurricanes 16-4 through the first three games of the series.

But as they always say, it’s one game at a time.

"I think the biggest thing for this group is we're really good at just focusing on what we need to do and staying in the moment and not looking ahead,” forward Brad Marchand said of trying to close out Carolina. “You can't start looking ahead. That’s a dangerous game.”

Making his first start of the series, Pyotr Kochetkov made some big stops early in the first period to keep the Panthers off the board, including a goal-saving paddle stop on Carter Verhaeghe.

Finally breaking through and rewarded for their pressure, the Panthers took a 1-0 lead when Niko Mikkola sent a puck into the slot that hit off a Hurricanes skater near the net and trickled past Kochetkov at 12:07.

At 16:59, the Hurricanes earned a golden opportunity to even the score when Eetu Luostarinen was assessed a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for boarding Jackson Blake, who left the ice but returned at the start of the second.

Rarely in trouble, it marked the first major penalty of Luostarinen’s career.

After killing off more than half the power play at the end of the first period, the Panthers staunchly held their ground and killed off the remaining time at the start of the second.

Despite being on the penalty kill, the Panthers looked dangerous even while down a man, including mustering a 2-on-1 rush that was just denied by a poke check from Kochetkov.

“Those are really important minutes for them, and also confidence in your depth,” head coach Paul Maurice said of surviving Carolina's five-minute power play with key killers missing, such as Luostarinen and recently injured forward Sam Reinhart. “It’s going to happen again. If one of your killers take a penalty for two minutes, it doesn’t faze your bench.”

Managing to one-up Kochetkov, Sergei Bobrovsky sent jaws to the floor later in the period when he pushed over from left to right in the blink of an eye to rob Logan Stankoven on a wicked one-timer with an otherworldly blocker save that kept the Hurricanes off the board.

“I was desperate,” said Bobrovsky, who's 7-1 in his last eight starts. “I just tried to throw there as much as possible.”

With the Hurricanes back on the power play yet again, Stankoven made his next shot count when he pounced on a rebound and chipped the puck into the cage to make it 1-1 at 14:51.

A tight game, the Panthers led 16-11 in scoring chances at 5-on-5 after two periods.

Back in the lineup after Reinhart was injured on a low hit in Game 2, Jesper Boqvist didn’t let his opportunity to impress go to waste with a spectacular goal early in the third period.

After a steal from Aaron Ekblad in the neutral zone, Boqvist took a touch pass from Evan Rodrigues, sliced and diced his way through Carolina’s defense and slipped a backhand shot through Kochetkov’s five-hole to make it 2-1 at 1:29.

“A good gap by our D, a good touch by Roddy to me in speed,” Boqvist said of the goal. “I just kind of tried to take him (the goaltender) a little bit wide, and it worked this time.”

Stepping up when his number is called, Boqvist has two goals in his last three games.

“A huge win for us,” Boqvist said. “I’m glad I could help a little bit.”

From there, the floodgates finally opened.

Flapping his wings and netting his second goal of the game, Mikkola -- also known as “The Condor” – padded the newfound lead for the Panthers when he joined the rush, took a pass from Sam Bennett and buried a far-side snipe from the left circle to make it 3-1 at 6:26.

Later in the period, Mikkola left the game after crashing into the boards.

Thankfully, the postgame update on his status was positive.

“We think he’s going to be OK,” Maurice said.

Just 29 seconds after Mikkola’s goal, the Panthers lit the lamp again when Matthew Tkachuk swiped the puck in the offensive zone and sent it over to Aleksander Barkov for a snipe from the right circle that brought the score to 4-1 6:55.

Not done there, Barkov struck again soon after when he fired a shot toward the crease that went off a defender and past Kochetkov to make it 5-1 at 9:31.

Putting a bow on the scoring spree, Brad Marchand settled down a saucer pass from Anton Lundell on a 2-on-1 rush and ripped a shot into the cage from the left circle to make it 6-1 at 10:37.

Getting one back, Seth Jarvis struck on the power play for Carolina to make it 6-2 at 11:01.

For the Hurricanes, it was too little, too late.

“We didn’t have a great start to the game,” Marchand said. “We weren’t bad in the first, but we weren’t great in the second. We were able to get back to the way we need to play to have success. Some guys made some big plays at the right time, led by Barky. He was incredible out there tonight.”

THEY SAID IT

“Boqi (Jesper Boqvist) has been so big every time he’s been in the lineup. Huge play by him. It just allows you to settle in and get comfortable.” – Brad Marchand on the importance of Jesper Boqvist’s goal

“I feel like we just stuck with it. That’s what we do. We work hard. If we do that, we’ll get our bounces, and that’s what happened.” – Jesper Boqvist on the scoring explosion in the third period

“As good as it is his for him, it’s also good for all the other players that aren’t in the lineup right now. They see how important you are, how critically important you are. You say to all those guys, ‘Stay ready.’ Well, they’ve been ready. They’ve done it all year.” – Paul Maurice on Jesper Boqvist scoring in his return to the lineup

“The home crowd helps a lot. They push us.” – Sergei Bobrovsky on the energy at Amerant Bank Arena

CATS STATS

- A defenseman has scored for Florida in each of the last four games.

- Evan Rodrigues is just the sixth player in NHL history to register multiple assists in each of the first three games of the Conference Finals.

- Aaron Ekblad became the second Panther to ever record 30 career playoff points.

- Niko Mikkola is one of four Panthers denfensemen with three goals this postseason.

- Aleksander Barkov recorded his third straight postseason with at least 15 points, matching Jari Kurri for the longest such streak by a Finnish-born player.

- The Panthers have scored at least five goals in each of their last four games.

- Jonah Gadjovich tallied a team-high eight hits.

- Gustav Forsling saw a team-high 22:51 of ice time.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Three wins down, just one to go.

Taking their first whack at getting back to the Stanley Cup Final, the Panthers will try to complete their sweep of the Hurricanes in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday.

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