Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 38: Hurricanes finally win in Conference Finals to keep season alive

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are back, which means that for the next two months, we’ll get non-stop exciting action in the NHL as we witness history in another team looking to win a championship. Here at Daily Faceoff, we’ll be keeping you in the loop of everything that happened in the playoffs, every day until the Stanley Cup is hoisted in June.

The Carolina Hurricanes have finally won a Conference Finals game again! After three straight series sweeps and finding themselves down 0-3 to the Florida Panthers, Carolina has won their first game past the second round since their Stanley Cup-winning game in 2006, ending a 15-game losing streak.

The biggest difference was how the Hurricanes started this game. After three straight games that saw the Panthers open the scoring in the first period, Carolina had their best start of the series by outshooting Florida 11-7, out-chancing them 10-4, and of course, keeping them off the scoreboard.

It wasn’t until the second period where they were rewarded for their efforts, as Logan Stankoven snapped home the opening goal midway through the frame, and the Hurricanes had their first lead of the series. Along with that, Alexander Nikishin got his first career NHL point with an excellent backhanded breakout pass to start the play.

The Panthers thought they should have had a prime opportunity to tie the game early in the third, when Nikishin tripped up Anton Lundell on a breakaway. However, it was not called a penalty shot, just a slashing penalty, and the Hurricanes killed it.

And then the Hurricanes thought that they had added to the lead midway through the third period with a goal from Mark Jankowski, but it turned out that Eric Robinson was offside just as he collected the puck, so it was still a one-goal game. Would anyone score again?

The short answer: yes, but not on a goalie. Florida pulled the goalie in an attempt to get the game tied, and Sebastian Aho and Jordan Staal cashed in with empty net goals. Frederik Andersen needed to make just 20 saves to get his second shutout of the postseason, and the Canes took the game by a score of 3-0 and keep their season alive, with the Panthers now just leading the series 3-1.