"9": 2025-26 Regular Season, Game 48: Carolina Hurricanes vs. Florida Panthers

There might not be a bigger contest this season than this one for the Carolina Hurricanes. It's not about the division. It's not about playoff seeding. It's not even about revenge. It's all about pride. The Hurricanes have lost to the Panthers twice this season in demoralizing fashion. They've blown leads in both Sunrise and Raleigh. The Canes have no other chances to get some shred of dignity back this season against the Panthers. This is it. They have to do it now. The Panthers are without several of their key contributors. The Canes are at home, with the crowd on their side. They have to find a way to exercise a few of their demons tonight. 

Scoring Summary

1st Period

CAR (18:35)- Nikolaj Ehlers (12) (Jordan Staal (10) & Jordan Martinook (8))

2nd Period

FLA (1:19)- Uvis Balinskis (2) (Mackie Samoskevich (15) & Sandis Valmanis (1))

CAR (13:10)- Mark Jankowski (4) (Alexander Nikishin (14) & Mike Reilly (6))

CAR (16:28-PP)- Alexander Nikishin (6) (Sebastian Aho (29) & Nikolaj Ehlers (24))

3rd Period

CAR (4:08-PP)- Andrei Svechnikov (13) (Seth Jarvis (13) & Sebastian Aho (30))

CAR (11:17-PP)- Nikolaj Ehlers (13) (Seth Jarvis (14) & Andrei Svechnikov (24))

CAR (11:38-PP)- Taylor Hall (10) (Logan Stankoven (13) & Mark Jankowski (5))

CAR (13:03)- Nikolaj Ehlers (14) (Logan Stankoven (14) & Jackson Blake (13))

CAR (18:23)- Taylor Hall (11) (Jackson Blake (14))

CAR (18:35)- Eric Robinson (10) (Jesperi Kotkaniemi (5) & Mark Jankowski (6))

My Thoughts

I would certainly like for the Carolina Hurricanes to play like this more often. This was very fun to watch. They took out their frustrations on a team that has caused them a lot of trouble. You could put together a top-tier lineup with the players the Florida Panthers are missing. Still, there are plenty of impact players remaining, and winning in this manner feels very satisfying, especially after the two losses in December. There's no other way to explain how this game went other than stating that this was truly a BTA performance by the home team. With a few days off to rest and recoup, they played like a hungry team in desperate need of a win against a team that really was in desperate need of a win. 

There's not a single player in the lineup tonight who didn't have a positive impact on tonight's win. All 19 players did their part. All 12 of the forwards recorded a point. Nikolaj Ehlers scored three times and added an assist. Mark Jankowski had a goal and two helpers. Taylor Hall scored twice in the third period, while Logan Stankoven and Jackson Blake each had two assists. Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis also had two apples. Andrei Svechnikov picked up his 400th and 401st points with a goal and an assist. Jordan Staal and Jordan Martinook created the opening goal. Eric Robinson scored the ninth goal, assisted by Jesperi Kotkaniemi. On defense, Alexander Nikishin had a goal and an assist in the second period. Mike Reilly added the secondary assist on the game-winning goal. Sean Walker laid six hits, including a thunderous shoulder on Jesper Boqvist, which led him to drop the gloves. Jaccob Slavin and Jalen Chatfield were monsters on the penalty kill. K'Andre Miller played almost half of the game (27:30) and blocked three shots. Brandon Bussi stopped 15 shots, including a game-changing stop on Carter Verhaeghe while it was still 1-1, to earn his 17th win in 21 starts.

This game got very chippy late in the second period. Walker's hit and ensuing fight allowed the Canes to score on the power play, sending them down the path to victory. Things got very rough early in the third, with both teams spending a lot of time in the penalty box. Ultimately, the Canes' power play is what put the game to rest. They scored three more times with the man advantage in just over 11:30 in the third, finishing the night 4-for-5. Ironically, the only time they failed to convert was on an abbreviated 5-on-3 that Svechnikov scored on almost immediately after it ended. Otherwise, the group was perfect. Speaking of perfect, the penalty kill was exactly that tonight. They went 5-for-5, preventing Florida from changing the momentum in their favor. The Cats managed just three shots on their five tries, though not all of them were full two-minute chances. Still, it's nice to see both units rolling.

Tonight had its rough moments, but it didn't reach the same levels we saw the previous two get to. Regardless, almost all of the big physical moments seemed to be dominated by the Hurricanes. From Walker's big hit to Nikishin's nice shoulder on Gustav Forsling, the Canes asserted themselves nicely. They finished the night with a 30-19 edge in hits. Most importantly, when the Panthers tried to stir things up, the Canes understood they were in control and didn't allow the Panthers to get under their skin. Sam Bennett tried to fire things up after the second period ended. Instead of playing into his trap, the Canes remained calm, and Bennett spent the first half of the final period in the box. There was also a dust-up almost halfway through the third when the Panthers started to go after Nikishin. He didn't take the bait, yet he ended up getting matching penalties. That felt pretty dumb, but I thought the officials did an otherwise good job of keeping things in line. The Canes played their game, and they were rewarded in every way possible tonight. That's how it needs to be every night.

First Star of the Game: Nikolaj Ehlers

I don't think anyone saw this level of dominance coming tonight, especially after the first period ended 1-0. The reason it did was the Staal line, which starred Nikolaj Ehlers. After being denied on an early chance, Ehlers was the recipient of a beautiful pass to get the crowd going. Along with a power-play assist in the second, Ehlers kept it going by scoring twice more in less than two minutes in the third to complete his hat trick. As his nickname suggests, Ehlers was flying tonight.

Next Up: The Canes fly to Newark tonight for another date with the New Jersey Devils tomorrow night. The group beat the Devils 3-1 on January 4. Next week, the Hurricanes host the Buffalo Sabres on Monday afternoon, giving us a weird 1:30 holiday start. A two-day break leads into their next game on Thursday night, a battle at the Lenovo Center against the Chicago Blackhawks, before they visit Canada's capital on Saturday for Hockey Night in Canada.