Breaking News: Panthers game-by-game recap on way to Cup Final
The Florida Panthers will play for the Stanley Cup for the second straight season.
The Panthers entered the Stanley Cup Playoffs as the No. 1 seed from the Atlantic Division and defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games in the first round and the Boston Bruins in six games in the second round before defeating the New York Rangers in six games to advance to the Cup Final.
Florida was defeated by the Vegas Golden Knights in five games in the 2023 Cup Final.
Here is a look at the Panthers’ road to the Stanley Cup Final:
April 21: Game 1, Eastern Conference First Round, Amerant Bank Arena: Panthers 3, Lightning 2
Florida didn’t waste much time before scoring their first goal of the playoffs when Sam Reinhart gave it a 1-0 lead at 6:17 of the first period. Brandon Hagel later tied it for Tampa Bay in the first but Carter Verhaeghe’s power-play goal 58 seconds into the third gave the Panthers the lead for good. Matthew Tkachuk added an empty-netter, and Steven Stamkos scored with 10 seconds left. Sergei Bobrovsky made 17 saves to help the Panthers earn a 1-0 lead in the best-of-7 series.
April 23: Game 2, Eastern Conference First Round, Amerant Bank Arena: Panthers 3, Lightning 2, OT
The Panthers raced to a 2-0 lead in the first on goals from Sam Bennett and Vladimir Tarasenko, but the Lightning respond in the second with goals from Brayden Point and Stamkos to tie the game. Bobrovsky made perhaps the save of the playoffs in the second period to keep the game tied. He got over from the right post and, with his back to the play, made a diving save on Matt Dumba with the back of his arm from close range. Neither team scored in the third, but Verhaeghe put Florida up 2-0 in the series with his goal 2:59 into overtime.
Tkachuk scored two goals and Brandon Montour and Steven Lorentz each had a goal and an assist for Florida, which trailed 2-1 in the second period before scoring three straight goals. Though Nicholas Paul got Tampa Bay within 4-3 with 5:10 remaining in the third, Tkachuk’s empty-net goal with 32 seconds left sealed the win and gave the Panthers a commanding 3-0 series lead.
April 27: Game 4, Eastern Conference First Round, Amalie Arena: Lightning 6, Panthers 3
Facing elimination, the Lightning came out hot, scoring three times in the first period, including a power-play goal by Stamkos and a short-handed goal by Hagel. The Panthers chipped away at the lead with second-period goals by Verhaeghe, Reinhart and Oliver Ekman-Larsson but trailed 4-3 entering the third. Stamkos and Paul scored in the third for the Lightning’s first win of the series.
April 29: Game 5, Eastern Conference First Round, Amerant Bank Arena: Panthers 6, Lightning 1
With a chance to clinch the series at home, Florida took a 2-1 lead into the third period with goals from Verhaeghe and Aleksander Barkov (short-handed). The Panthers pulled away with four goals in the third. Barkov and Evan Rodrigues made it 4-1 before empty-net goals by Verhaeghe and Niko Mikkola sealed the series. Bobrovsky made 31 saves to help Florida advance to the second round.
May 6: Game 1, Eastern Conference Second Round, Amerant Bank Arena: Bruins 5, Panthers 1
The second round began for the Panthers with a rematch of the 2023 first round, when they defeated the Bruins in seven games. In this game, Tkachuk gave Florida a 1-0 lead 11:45 into the second period, but Boston stormed back with five unanswered goals, including three in the second by Morgan Geekie, Mason Lohrei and Brandon Carlo. Florida was unable to solve Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman (38 saves) and lost to trail a series for the first time in the playoffs.
May 8: Game 2, Eastern Conference Second Round, Amerant Bank Arena: Panthers 6, Bruins 1
Facing the possibly of going down 2-0 losing both games at home, the Panthers viewed this as a must-win. Charlie Coyle gave Boston a 1-0 lead in the first period, but Florida then scored six straight goals. Lorentz, Barkov and Gustav Forsling scored in the second, and Eetu Luostarinen, Barkov and Montour in the third. Barkov had two goals and two assists, and the Panthers limited the Bruins to 15 shots on goal to tie the series.
