Florida Panthers' Game 5 win secures their spot in the Stanley Cup Finals

Florida Panthers vs. Carolina Hurricanes (GAME 5)

The Florida Panthers won Game 5 in the Eastern Conference Final of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Carolina Hurricanes on May 28, 2025. This matchup took place at the Lenovo Center and ended with a final score of 5-3 in the Panthers' favor. Read about how the Florida Panthers won the last game of the Eastern Conference Finals, the standout players of each team, and the stats of this game.

Game Recap

Lenovo Center grew with excitement as the Canes took control over the first period of the game which ended 2-0 in their favor. #20 Sebastian Aho opened up the first period with an unassisted goal against Panthers’ goaltender, #72 Sergei Bobrovsky, after a Panthers turnover in the neutral zone (1-0). Both teams’ penalty kill units and goaltenders continued to thrive during the first period as they killed off a couple penalties and kept the score at a standstill until the final three minutes of the period. The Panthers found themselves with a two-goal deficit going into the second period after #20 Aho extended the Canes’ lead 2-0 due to another Panthers turnover. The Canes entered the second period with a two-goal lead due to the great goaltending efforts of #31 Frederik Andersen during the first twenty minutes of Game 5. 

The Panthers regrouped and were able to maintain control over the second period which ended with a final score of 3-2 in the Panthers’ favor. The goal-scoring momentum started off with a power play goal that was deflected into the back of the net by #19 Matthew Tkachuk (2-1). Thirty seconds later, #17 Evan Rodrigues tied the game, 2-2, when he buried the puck after receiving a great pass by #9 Sam Bennett. The last Panthers goal during the third period was redirected past #31 Andersen by #15 Anton Lundell (3-2). The Canes continued to struggle to get their scoring chances past #72 Bobrovsky while on their man-advantages which kept them at a one-goal deficit going into the last period of regulation. 

The score remained at a standstill until #24 Seth Jarvis tied the game, 3-3, when the Canes were able to regain puck possession after a failed clearing attempt by the Panthers. This game-tying goal did not hinder the Panthers’ momentum as they regained their one-goal lead after #16 C. Aleksander Barkov maintained puck possession behind the net and passed it to #23 Carter Verhaeghe who was able to snap the puck past #31 Andersen with eight minutes left in regulation (4-3). During the final three minutes left in regulation, #9 Bennett received a slashing penalty which put the Canes on the power play during their last push to tie the game. During this man-advantage, the Canes decided to pull their goaltender to play 6-on-4 hockey. Unfortunately for the Canes, things did not go according to plan as they found themselves with a two-goal deficit after #9 Bennett gained puck possession and secured an empty net goal once his penalty expired (5-3). Although the Canes did find themselves on man-advantage with twenty-eight seconds left in regulation, they were unable to overcome the Panthers penalty kill unit and impressive goaltending which ultimately secured the Panthers' 4-1 East Final win. 

After a battle against the Carolina Hurricanes, the Florida Panthers were named the Eastern Conference Champions for the third year in a row after winning the 2025 Eastern Conference Final. Despite being reunited with the Prince of Wales Trophy, the job is not done for the Panthers as they have their eyes on the Stanley Cup.

The standout players

Florida Panthers

• Forward: #9 Sam Bennett and #19 Matthew Tkachuk ended the game with 1G and 1A

• Defensemen: #5 Aaron Ekblad and #3 Seth Jones both ended with 1A

• Goaltender: #72 Sergei Bobrovsky had a save percentage of 0.870% after he saved 20 out of 23 shots on goal

Carolina Hurricanes 

• Forward: #20 Sebastian Aho (2G) and #24 Seth Jarvis (1G, 1A) both ended with 2 points by the end of this game

• Defensemen: #4 Shayne Gostisbehere recorded 1A by the end of this game

• Goaltender: #31 Frederik Andersen had a save percentage of 0.810% after he saved 17 out of 21 shots on goal

Stats

• The Canes slightly outshot the Panthers (23 SOG vs. 22 SOG)

• The Canes delivered more hits than the Panthers (48 hits vs. 31 hits)

• The Panthers slightly won more faceoffs than the Canes (50.7% vs. 49.3%) 

• The Panthers had a higher power play success rate than the Canes (25 PP% vs. 0 PP%)

SUMMARY: The Panthers overall ability to take advantage of their scoring chances and main-advantages greatly benefited them in winning Game 5 of this series despite the Canes playing a more physical game and having a relatively similar amount of shots on goal. 

The Florida Panthers won the 2025 Eastern Conference Final, 4-1, against the Carolina Hurricanes

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