Florida beat Carolina for the fourth time in a row and is playing in the NHL finals. Matthew Tkachuk shined again as Florida’s star.
The Florida Panthers have advanced to the finals of the Stanley Cup in the hockey NHL.
Florida beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4–3 at home and won the Eastern Conference finals straight 4–0. In the finals, Florida will face the Vegas Golden Knights or the Dallas Stars from the Western Conference.
The match had a really dramatic ending. Florida star player Matthew Tkachuk decided the match five seconds before the end of the third period, and Carolina’s Finnish players Sebastian Ahon with the management had to go on summer vacation. Florida Captain Alexander Barkov recorded an assist on the winning goal.
The match started with Florida in command.
Barkov was also organizing by Anthony Duclair 1-0 goal at the beginning of the opening set. Tkachuk, who excelled in this spring’s playoffs, made it 2–0 with an upper hand in the middle of the first period.
Carolina, who was on the sidelines due to injury Teuvo Teräväinen scored his team’s opening goal of the playoffs in an important position, tying the score at 2–2.
You can see Teräväinen’s goal in the video below.
Florida took the lead again, but Carolina rallied with three minutes left in the third period.
Carolina’s streak ended bluntly with Tkachuk’s last-minute goal. The 4-3 goal was reviewed on video but allowed.
For Carolina, the loss in the conference final series was its third in a row. The Hurricanes have lost every conference finals series they have played since the spring of 2009 (losses in 2019 and 2023).
Panthers’ Tkachuk teared up in a post-game interview
During its club history, Florida has only played in the Stanley Cup finals once before, in the spring of 1996. That was when the Colorado Avalanche took the championship from under its nose.
Now the Panthers could finally repeat the trick. The big responsibility for this was carried by Tkachuk, who scored the winning goal, who arrived in Florida at the beginning of this season in a big trade from the Calgary Flames.
Panthers fans on social media are now praising that act of the club management as “the trade of all time”.
Tkachuk, who was the core piece of that trade, had his emotions on the surface after the decisive fourth game. He praised Barkov for the winning goal.
– I knew there wasn’t much time and I just tried to get a shot towards the goal. “Barky” played good puck and pass for me, he described the Canadian In a Sportsnet TV interviewbefore having to swallow his words and emotions as the Florida crowd cheered.
– Now listen to these people, this is incredible. I’m so happy and grateful to be here and to score that goal in front of these fans. This feels incredible.
The Panthers also boldly set out to break NHL taboos. Often, conference winning teams do not touch the conference winner’s trophy as it is believed to bring bad luck for the Stanley Cup Finals. Florida’s Finnish captain Barkov, on the other hand, happily lifted the trophy in his arms after the team photos and carried the Prince of Wales Trophy to the locker room.