If the Panthers reach the Eastern Conference final, they now know their opponent
The Florida Panthers are one win away from advancing to the Eastern Conference final for a third consecutive year.
Should they get that clinching victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs — which could come as early as Friday when Florida hosts Game 6 at Sunrise’s Amerant Bank Arena (8 p.m., TNT, truTV, Max) — the Panthers now know who they would be facing for a spot in the Stanley Cup Final.
The Carolina Hurricanes advanced to the Eastern Conference final after dispatching the Washington Capitals, who finished the regular season as the top team in the East, in five games in their second-round playoff series. Carolina sealed the series with a 3-1 win on Thursday.
Andrei Svechnikov scored the game-winning goal with 1:59 in regulation to break a 1-1 tie. Jordan Staal opened scoring for Carolina in the series-clinching win and Seth Jarvis added an empty-net goal with 26.1 seconds left in regulation. Goaltender Frederik Andersen stopped 18 of 19 shots he faced.
The Hurricanes and Capitals split the first two games of the series — a 2-1 Carolina win in Game 1, a 3-1 Washington win in Game 2 — before Carolina won three in a row to end the series.
Carolina, which finished second in the Metropolitan Division to Washington in the regular season, also defeated the New Jersey Devils in the first round of the playoffs.
The Panthers and Hurricanes met in the Eastern Conference final in 2023, with Florida sweeping Carolina to get to the Stanley Cup Final.
All four games were decided by one goal, including the thrilling four-overtime victory in the series opener and a 4-3 series-clinching win in Game 4 — with star Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk netting the game-winner in both contests.
The best-of-7 series would start in Raleigh, North Carolina, as the Hurricanes had the better regular-season finish. As such, Carolina would host Games 1, 2, 5 (if necessary) and 7 (if necessary) while Florida would host Games 3, 4 and 6 (if necessary).
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