Panthers One Win From Third-Consecutive Stanley Cup Final

SUNRISE, Fla. — The Florida Panthers are just one game away from returning to the Stanley Cup Final for a third-consecutive season.

Florida took a 3-0 lead in their Eastern Conference Final series against the Carolina Hurricanes after a 6-2 win in Game 3 at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday night. They’ll have a chance to sweep the Hurricanes for the second time in three years (2023 ECF) and punch its ticket to the Cup Final on Monday night at home.

Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky had 23 saves in his fourth straight win of the playoffs.

In the other crease, Hurricanes goalie Pyotr Kochetkov, who made his first start of the series in favor of Frederik Andersen, gave up six goals on 28 shots.

Niko Mikkola opened the scoring 12:07 into the first with his second goal of the playoffs. The 6’5 defenseman — often rendered to as “The Condor” by his teammates — jumped up in the rush and put a puck towards goal that banked in off Hurricanes’ Dmitry Orlov, giving the Panthers a 1-0 lead.

Through the first three games of the series, Florida opened the scoring in every contest.

With 3:01 remaining in the first period, the Panthers lost forward Eetu Luostarinen for the night after he was assessed a five-minute major and game misconduct for boarding Hurricanes forward Jackson Blake. Blake left the game but did return.

Logan Stankoven got the Hurricanes a much needed tying goal with 5:09 left in the second period, beating Bobrovsky after swiping at a loose puck to even things up at 1-1.

In the absence of star forward Sam Reinhart — who missed Saturday’s game with a lower-body injury as the result of a hit he took from Sebastian Aho in Game 2 — Jesper Boqvist drew into the lineup for the first time since Game 6 of the second round.

Boqvist gave Florida the lead 1:29 into the final period of regulation after dancing past the Orlov and tucking a backhander underneath Kochetkov’s five-hole.

Mikkola gave the Panthers a two-goal lead after ripping a shot top-shelf over Kochetkov 6:26 into the third, putting his team up 3-1 with his second of the night.

Just 29 seconds after Mikkola’s goal, Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov scored his first of two goals in the period, extending the lead to 4-1.

Following Barkov’s second goal of the night — that came less than three minutes after his first — Brad Marchand made it 6-1 with his fourth goal of the postseason.

Florida scored five unanswered goals in just 9:08 of game time.

The Hurricanes would finally get one back with eight minutes to go after Seth Jarvis scored his fifth goal of the playoffs, cutting the deficit to 6-2.

Despite the win, Florida lost Niko Mikkola — who has been a a standout this postseason — in the third period after he crashed into the boards behind the goal. Mikkola was in visible pain and seemed to not be moving his right arm when he left the ice.

Carolina’s misfortunes in the Conference Finals continues, having has lost 15 straight games in the ECF — dating back to 2009.

Game 4 will be Monday, May 26 at 8 ET in Sunrise.