"Crumbled and Collapsed": 2025 Postseason, Eastern Conference Final, Game 3 (FLA leads 2-0): Hurricanes at Florida Panthers

The Hurricanes are flirting with a fate like their last three trips to the Eastern Conference Finals. The Panthers won both games in Raleigh to open the series, outscoring the Canes 10-2, including a 5-0 shutout victory on Thursday night. Florida's stars are running circles around Carolina's, and now they're hitting the road down 2-0 with a sweep looking more and more likely. Unless something remarkable happens, the Canes' season will likely end in the next few days. For now, we just need to appreciate the time we have left.

Scoring Summary

1st Period

FLA (12:07)- Niko Mikkola (2) (Evan Rodrigues (9) & Aleksander Barkov (9))

2nd Period

CAR (14:51)- Logan Stankoven (4) PP (Brent Burns (3) & Jesperi Kotkaniemi (4))

3rd Period

FLA (1:29)- Jesper Boqvist (2) (Evan Rodrigues (10) & Aaron Ekblad (7))

FLA (6:26)- Niko Mikkola (3) (Sam Bennett (5) & Matthew Tkachuk (9))

FLA (6:55)- Aleksander Barkov (5) (Matthew Tkachuk (10))

FLA (9:31)- Aleksander Barkov (6) (Jesper Boqvist (2))

FLA (10:37)- Brad Marchand (4) (Anton Lundell (7) & Jesper Boqvist (3))

CAR (11:01)- Seth Jarvis (5) PP (Logan Stankoven (3) & Sebastian Aho (8))

My Thoughts

After two periods, I was feeling good. The Hurricanes showed up to play a solid road game, finally breaking past Sergei Bobrovsky late in the period on the power play. They looked like a hockey team that remembered how to coherently pass and shoot the puck. Pyotr Kochetkov looked very good in his first start since the first round, even after an unfortunate bounce put the Canes behind by a goal. All they had to do was find a way to keep the Panthers in check while getting another shot past Bobrovsky. While it wouldn't be an easy task, it's the closest thing we'd seen to a good game from the Hurricanes in this series. 

Unfortunately, the Panthers also remembered that they are very good at hockey. Everything they shot went into the back of the net in the third period. In reality, the Panthers had 13 shots over the final 20 minutes, and five of them ended up in the back of the net. Every goal was a self-inflicted wound by the Hurricanes, largely helped by incredibly poor decisions. Dmitry Orlov was terrible. Scott Morrow's inexperience reared its ugly head. Passing suddenly became tough again. The Canes scored a goal late in the game to stop the bleeding, but only after the Panthers had run away with it. To follow their best period of the series with easily their worst was a shot through the chest to every Caniac watching at home.

I was surprised by Rod Brind'Amour's decision to start Pyotr Kochetkov over Frederik Andersen, though I understood where it came from. Andersen was hardly at fault for what happened in Raleigh to begin the series, but this could've been the jolt the team needed. For two periods, it was. Kochetkov was very solid. Unfortunately, he got no help in the third as the Panthers put up a crooked number. Andersen will be back in the net for Game 4. I don't know how tonight's result is different with Andersen in the net instead of Kochetkov, so I won't imagine it plays out differently. In both worlds, the defense probably breaks down in the third. 

One more loss separates the Hurricanes from summer vacation. There are plenty within the fan base who are ready and have counted the group out for Game 4 on Monday night. I'm sticking around until the end, so they might as well get another one to keep the series going. Remember, last season the Panthers had a 3-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Final against the Oilers before losing three straight. There is precedent for this type of collapse. The problem is that Florida looks unbeatable right now. I don't have much hope that the Hurricanes will win this series. In fact, there's about a 99.9% chance the series is over. However, they aren't dead until the final horn sounds for one more loss.

#RaiseUp First Star of the Game- Logan Stankoven

The rookies were among the lone bright spots for the Hurricanes tonight. Logan Stankoven was at the forefront, contributing to both Hurricanes' goals. He got it going with a power-play goal late in the second period, tying the game and giving us all a little hope. He also made a great pass on Seth Jarvis' power-play goal in the third to record a multi-point night. Stankoven is the first rookie to record points in both conference finals. He also assumed the rookie goal and scoring leads this postseason with his fourth goal and seventh point.