SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Everybody's scoring for Florida. Nobody's scoring for Carolina.
In simplest terms, that might be the best way to describe the first two games of the Eastern Conference finals between the Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes. The defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers lead the series 2-0, lead 10-2 in goals, have nine players with multiple points in the matchup so far to Carolina's one, and have eight players with at least one goal.
It has been a mismatch. And Carolina — a team that has now dropped 14 consecutive games in the conference finals round — knows Saturday night's Game 3 will be the biggest contest of its season.
“Sometimes it’s easier to recover from a game like that because there’s nothing good out of it," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said after Game 2, a 5-0 Florida romp on Thursday. “If you’re close, a play here or there makes a difference. There was nothing good on this game for us. So, we’re going to have to learn from it. But everybody has to be better.”
A lot better, or else.
Entering Friday, there were 18 players left in the Stanley Cup playoffs who have logged at least 10 points in the 2025 postseason — and eight of them play for the Panthers. Edmonton has four, while Dallas and Carolina each have three.
And the Panthers are getting production from every line, all over the lineup. Florida has 18 different players with one goal — the most in the NHL so far in these playoffs.
“The guys that are in and out of the lineup that haven't scored, they're getting chirped pretty hard,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said Friday. “The watch on everybody who hasn't scored is on.”
That was tongue in cheek; the Panthers have made clear that they simply don't care who scores. Depth is a strength for Florida, and it may be tested again now given the uncertainty over Sam Reinhart's status.
Florida may be without Reinhart — a 67-goal scorer last season, including playoffs, the last of those being the winner in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final — on Saturday, depending on what the doctors say about his knee injury. Reinhart was knocked out of Game 2 against Carolina when the Hurricanes' Sebastian Aho went knee-to-knee with him in the first period.
Zito a finalist
Florida general manager Bill Zito was announced Friday as one of three finalists for the Jim Gregory Award, presented to the top GM in the NHL.
The other finalists: 2023 and 2024 winner Jim Nill of the Dallas Stars, and Winnipeg Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff.
Zito is a finalist for the fourth time and third in a row, after finishing third in the voting in 2021, 2023 and 2024.
Back at home
Florida lost its last home game — Game 6 vs. Toronto in Round 2. The Panthers went 3-0 on the road trip that followed, winning a season-saving Game 7 at Toronto and then Games 1 and 2 at Carolina.
Combined score of those games: Florida 16, Opponents 3.
“I think we’re all a little bit at a loss,” Carolina forward Taylor Hall said. “But this is the playoffs and we're playing against the best teams right now.”
Bobrovsky watch
Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky is 5-1 with a 1.01 goals-against average and .958 save percentage in his last six games.
Other than the 40-year-old Marc-Andre Fleury's 24-minute appearance for Minnesota in Round 1, Bobrovsky — who turns 37 in about four months — is the oldest goalie to see time in this year's playoffs.
There's another tie between the two. This run by Bobrovsky marks the first time any starting goalie has posted a GAA of 1.01 or less in a six-game span of a single postseason since Fleury in 2018, when he went 5-1-0 with a 1.00 GAA and save percentage of .967 in a stretch for Vegas.
“He’s incredible every night,” Panthers forward Sam Bennett said. “His composure in the net and his focus, game in, game out, he’s always dialed in, he makes the big save when he needs to. And that gives our team so much life, so much momentum. Yeah, we love Bobby.”
Carolina's offense
The Hurricanes are an NHL-best 7-0 in the playoffs when scoring at least three goals, 0-5 when scoring two goals or less.
That continues the trend from the regular season. The Hurricanes were 43-7-3 when scoring at least three goals, 5-27-2 when held to two or less.
2-0 trends
When up 2-0 in a series, the Panthers have gone on to prevail every time — six chances, six series wins.
Carolina is facing a 2-0 deficit for the 12th time in its history. The Hurricanes have wound up losing nine of the previous 11 series after dropping the first two games of a matchup.
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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press
