Florida Panthers vs. Carolina Hurricanes 2025 Eastern Conference Final Recap

The Eastern Conference Finals (ECF) between the Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers came to an end after the Panthers won the East 4-1 in five games. After triumphantly beating the Canes, the Panthers have punched their ticket into the 2025 Stanley Cup Finals for the third time in a row. 

The series started out with a strong start for the Panthers as they won the ECF opener with a 5-2 Game 1 win on May 20, 2025. They continued their momentum with a 5-0 shutout in Game 2 and found themselves within one-win from securing their spot in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs after their 6-2 Game 3 win. Down by three-games, the Canes made a huge comeback with a 3-0 shutout in Game 4 of the series. After their upset in Game 4, the Panthers came back with vengeance as they gained momentum during the second and third period of Game 5 which ended with a 5-3 victory on May 28, 2025. The Panthers were named the 2025 Eastern Conference Champions for the third year in a row after their near sweep in the ECF. 

The Panthers’ points leaders were #16 C. Aleksander Barkov (3G, 4A) and #9 Sam Bennett (4G, 3A) who both ended the ECF with 7 points recorded. #9 Bennett led the Panthers with the most goals scored (4G) while #17 Evan Rodrigues led the team with the most assists recorded by the end of this series (6A). In regards to goaltending, #72 Sergei Bobrovsky ended the ECF with a 4-1-0 record and a 0.921 SV% after he saved 116 out of 126 shots on goal. 

The Canes’ points and assists leader was #24 Seth Jarvis (2G, 4A) who ended the ECF with 6 points recorded. #20 Sebastian Aho led the team with the most goals scored as he recorded 4 goals. The Canes’ main goaltender during this series was #31 Frederik Andersen who ended with a 0.819 SV% after he saved 68 out of 83. After the Panthers shutout the Canes 5-0 in Game 2, #52 Pyotr Kochetkov got his chance in net during Game 3 and ended with a 0.786 SV% after he saved 22 out of 28 shots on goal. Overall, the Canes goaltending ended the ECF with a 1-4-0 record and a 0.811 SV% after the tandem saved a total 90 out of 111 shots on goal.  

In regards to stats the Panthers outscored the Canes (21G vs. 10G) despite the Canes recording more shots on goal (126 SOG vs. 111 SOG). The Canes also played with more physicality (221 hits vs. 215 hits) and ended with a higher average faceoff win rate in the five games that were played against the Panthers (54.90% vs. 45.28%). The Panthers did find more success on the man-advantage (29.4 PP% vs. 15.0 PP%) and with their penalty kill success rate (85.0 PK% vs. 48.0 PK%). The Panthers’ overall ability to take advantage of their scoring chances and man-advantages as well as their solid penalty kill unit greatly benefited in their ECF win. 

The Florida Panthers proved why they are the reigning Stanley Cup Champions after dominating and winning the Eastern Conference Final for a third year in a row. Although they have won the Prince of Wales Trophy three times, the job is not done for the Panthers as they are hungry to win the Stanley Cup for a second year in a row.

Come back to read about the Florida Panthers run during the 2025 Stanley Cup Finals!