Eastern Conference final live updates: Florida Panthers vs Carolina Hurricanes, Game 4
Could this be it? Could tonight be the night the Florida Panthers punch their ticket back to the Stanley Cup Final?
Florida has already dominated the Carolina Hurricanes for three consecutive games in the Eastern Conference final.
The Panthers need just one more win to wrap up the best-of-7 series.
Puck drop for Game 4 on Monday is at 8 p.m. from Sunrise’s Amerant Bank Arena. The game will be televised on TNT and truTV and available via stream on Max.
Follow along throughout the game for live updates, news, analysis and commentary.
Hurricanes avoid the sweep
It’s a 3-0 final after a pair of Carolina empty-net goals.
Game 5 is Wednesday in Raleigh.
Carolina goal overturned
Mark Jankowski appeared to make it 2-0 Carolina with 13:29 left to play but the Panthers successfully challenged that the play was offside.
The score remains 1-0 Hurricanes.
Panthers trail after 2
The score is 1-0 Carolina after 40 minutes.
This has easily been the Hurricanes’ best all-around effort of the series — and honestly the game it felt like the series would be all along.
Florida needs to make a push in the third if it wants to avoid a Game 5.
Brad Marchand to the top line
Panthers coach Paul Maurice moved Brad Marchand to the top line midway through the second period, flipping him with Jesper Boqvist.
Carolina leads for the first time this series
It was only a matter of time before Carolina buried one with the way they have been attacking.
Logan Stankoven does it after a Seth Jones turnover in the neutral zone.
1-0 Hurricanes over the Panthers with 9:15 left in the second.
It’s Carolina’s first lead in the series.
The Hurricanes have their first lead in the series.
Tied after one period
The Panthers and Hurricanes go to the dressing room tied 0-0 after one period.
Carolina has a 10-7 edge in shots on goal and played perhaps its best period of the series.
But Florida’s defense — and a few solid saves from Sergei Bobrovsky — keeps the game scoreless.
Pretty even early
Each team has had a couple of good chances through the first eight-plus minutes, but the score is still 0-0.
Shots on goal are even at 4-4.
Defenseman Seth Jones has been noticeable in a good way for the Panthers in the early going.
Panthers lineup
Florida is without three regulars in forwards Sam Reinhart and A.J. Greer along with defenseman Niko Mikkola.
Here’s how they’re lining up, based on warmups...
Forward lines
Evan Rodrigues-Aleksander Barkov-Jesper Boqvist
Carter Verhaeghe-Sam Bennett-Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen-Anton Lundell-Brad Marchand
Nico Sturm-Tomas Nosek-Jonah Gadjovich
Defense pairs
Gustav Forsling-Aaron Ekblad
Dmitry Kulikov-Seth Jones
Uvis Balinskis-Nate Schmidt
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Vitek Vanecek
Series schedule
▪ Game 1 — Panthers 5, Hurricanes 2: Florida struck early, played its defense-centric style the rest of the way and had a steady performance in net from Sergei Bobrovsky to take the series opener. Carter Verhaeghe, Aaron Ekblad, A.J. Greer, Sam Bennett and Eetu Luostarinen all scored for the Panthers, with Verhaeghe and Bennett scoring on the power play.
▪ Game 2 — Panthers 5, Hurricanes 0: Sergei Bobrovsky recorded his third shutout of the postseason, Florida’s second forward line of Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk carried the load offensively and the team held the Hurricanes to just 17 shots on goal.
▪ Game 3 — Panthers 6, Hurricanes 2: The Panthers scored five consecutive goals in just over nine minutes in the third period to turn a tied game into a blowout and put Florida one win away from its third consecutive Stanley Cup Final.
▪ Game 4: Tonight
▪ Game 5 (if necessary): Wednesday, May 28, 8 p.m., TNT, truTV, Max, Raleigh’s Lenovo Center
▪ Game 6 (if necessary): Friday, May 30, 8 p.m., TNT, truTV, Max, Sunrise’s Amerant Bank Arena
▪ Game 7 (if necessary): Sunday, June 1, 8 p.m., TNT, truTV, Max, Raleigh’s Lenovo Center
Pregame reading
Need to catch up ahead of Game 4? Here are the highlights of the Miami Herald’s coverage over the past few days.
▪ A dominant third period turned close Game 3 into another Panthers rout over Hurricanes
▪ ‘We need one more’: Panthers know this series isn’t over yet
▪ Marchand comes clean about his Panthers intermission snack — and it wasn’t Dairy Queen
▪ Florida is without three key players for Game 4
▪ Despite not scoring, Evan Rodrigues still finding ways to set Panthers up for success
This story was originally published May 26, 2025 at 7:00 PM.
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