Who’s ready for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final in Raleigh?
Let’s just try and keep it to closer to 60 minutes this time.
For the second time in three seasons, the Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes will fight for the right to represent the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup Final.
Just like the last time, the series will begin at Lenovo Center.
Back then, Florida won both games in Raleigh…in overtime. Game 1 was a quadruple overtime marathon while Game 2 ended early in the first overtime, both on goals by Matthew Tkachuk.
This year, Carolina has not appeared to face much resistance en route to the Stanley Cup semifinal.
The Hurricanes dispatched the New Jersey Devils in five games in the first round, with three of their four wins coming by at least two goals.
They followed that up with a five-game series victory over the Washington Capitals, the top regular season team in the Eastern Conference, and also with three of four wins coming by multiple goals.
Carolina will face a different kind of beast in the Panthers, though.
Will Florida be able to crack the Hurricanes’ strong defensive systems?
Through 10 games, Carolina has allowed more than two goals only three times, and allowed one or fewer goals five times.
Meanwhile, the Panthers are averaging 3.75 goals per game during the playoffs, second to only the Edmonton Oilers mark of 3.91. To their credit, Carolina isn’t far behind Florida at 3.40 goals per game.
And while the Hurricanes are the stingiest team in the postseason, allowing just 1.80 goals per game, Florida is second, giving up 2.42.
Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Game 1 in Carolina:
Evan Rodrigues – Sasha Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Brad Marchand
A.J. Greer – Tomas Nosek – Jonah Gadjovich
Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones
Nate Schmidt – Dmitry Kulikov
Scratches: Mackie Samoskevich, Uvis Balinskis, Jesper Boqvist, Nico Sturm, Jaycob Megna
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Photo caption: Jan 2, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov (16) skates the puck up the ice against Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Brent Burns (8) during the third period at Amerant Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rich Storry-Imagn Images