Panthers stun Canes, cap sweep with late winner
Matthew Tkachuk scored with 4.3 seconds remaining in the third period as the Florida Panthers defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final on Wednesday to complete a four-game sweep and advance to the Stanley Cup Final.
Tkachuk scored the overtime winners in Games 1 and 2 and burnished his reputation as one of the NHL’s most clutch players, scoring into a wide-open cage for his second tally of Wednesday’s contest as Sam Bennett set a screen in front of Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen. The power-play goal was challenged for goaltender interference but the call on the ice stood.
Anthony Duclair opened the scoring 41 seconds into the contest as Andersen couldn’t track the puck in his skates. It appeared the rout was on as Tkachuk added Florida’s second goal during the man advantage just over 10 minutes into the first period.
But Carolina refused to go down without a fight as Paul Stastny cut the lead to 2-1 almost three minutes after Tkachuk’s first goal. Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who was the best player in the series by far, lost track of the puck and Stastny flicked it into the net with under seven minutes remaining in the first period.
Teuvo Teravainen tied the contest nearly three minutes into the second frame as Brady Skjei’s shot from the point broke Aaron Ekblad’s stick. The puck ricocheted into Teravainen’s path and he made no mistake, scoring from the slot.
Ryan Lomberg reestablished Florida’s lead halfway through the second period. As the Hurricanes tried to break out of their defensive zone, Lomberg picked off Jesperi Kotkaniemi, fed the puck to Eric Staal, who dished it off to Colin White, then White sent it to Lomberg to cap off a picturesque four-pass team goal for the 3-2 lead.
Jesper Fast equalized for the Hurricanes once again with his sixth goal of the playoffs, tying the game at 3-3 with three minutes remaining in the third. Fast snuck in behind the Panthers’ defense and cut to the inner slot, took a feed from Jordan Martinook and made no mistake with the finish.
It looked like Game 4 was headed to overtime but Tkachuk had other ideas.
Bobrovsky made 36 saves, while Andersen made 21 stops for the Hurricanes.
Florida will play the winner of the Vegas Golden Knights-Dallas Stars series in the Stanley Cup Final. Vegas currently leads that matchup 3-0.
More to come.