Panthers continue wild playoff ride to East Final against Hurricanes

TORONTO -- Matthew Tkachuk called it crazy.

That would be one way to explain how the Florida Panthers advanced to the Eastern Conference Final on Friday in similar fashion to how they saved their season back on March 29.

The Panthers eliminated the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 3-2 overtime win at Scotiabank Arena in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Second Round on Friday. Back on March 29, on the verge of missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs altogether, the Panthers ended a four-game losing streak with a 3-2 overtime win in Toronto. That started a 6-1-1 run to the finish line for Florida, which earned the second wild card from the East, one point ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres.

"It's the good thing about our team is that we don't allow ourselves to think about things like that," Tkachuk said. "Going back to that game (March 29), Sam Reinhart scores late (with one minute left in the third period), nobody talks about that goal, and then as you move along there's so many big moments that have happened since January where it could have been the end of it for us. It could have been a game you can't come back from. I mean, we made the playoffs by one point. It's crazy to think about."

Aleksander Barkov, the Panthers captain and longest-tenured player in his 10th season, said a spot in the conference final seemed far away in late March.

"You know what, there were a couple times this year when we kind of like figured out how to play and sometimes we would not have great weeks or a great couple games," Barkov said. "That Toronto game kind of turned around our push once again and then we won like six in a row, got ourselves in the playoffs and now here we are."

The Panthers have greater goals in mind, but a trip to the conference final offers a degree of vindication. In 2021-22, they won the Presidents' Trophy for having the best record in the regular season but were swept in the second round of the playoffs by the Tampa Bay Lightning. That led to much offseason change. Paul Maurice replaced Andrew Brunette as coach, and Tkachuk arrived in a trade with the Calgary Flames on July 25 for forward Jonathan Huberdeau and defenseman MacKenzie Weegar.

"It's an unreal feeling right now," Barkov said. "To go to the Eastern Conference Final is a big deal for us. That's all I can think right now."

Now, the Panthers find themselves just four wins away from their first trip to the Stanley Cup Final since 1996. But Barkov said they realize they'll have a difficult challenge against the Carolina Hurricanes.

"It's hard right now because you don't want to think too much ahead," Barkov said. "You want to think about like one game at a time, and that's how we do it. Of course, you can dream about it but if you start thinking too much ahead and start thinking if we win this game, this game, this game, this game and then we are going to be in the Final, that's not how it works. It's going to be again a really hard series and we are going to be ready for that."

The Panthers are confident, though. They're 8-4 in the postseason and overcame a 3-1 deficit against the Boston Bruins in the first round.

"So many moments down the stretch, we go on that 6-1-1 run, we get in, we're down 3-1 against Boston," Tkachuk said. "An overtime winner in Game 5, a bunch of lead changes in Game 6 and come back and win that one. We came back with a minute left in Game 7 and (Carter) Verhaeghe wins that series for us, and now (Nick) Cousins wins this series for us. It's crazy, just crazy."

In the process of defeating the Maple Leafs, Florida earned the respect of Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe.

"Credit to the Florida Panthers," Keefe said. "They come in here after knocking off the greatest team in the history of the League in the regular season and keep that momentum coming right through here. They're a team that in the regular season, one of the best offenses in the League and came through the playoffs, competing hard and became a very good defensive team with elite goaltending. Full credit to them for the job that they did."

In a short period of time, the Panthers went from the brink of missing the playoffs to advancing to the conference final for the second time in their history, overcoming much adversity along the way. Maurice believes that will serve them well against the Hurricanes.

"We want to win the Stanley Cup but from where we were coming from, we were going to learn almost everything we needed to know about winning from the Boston series, physical series, down 3-1, how to stay in the fight, and then Game 4 here was really important for us," Maurice said. "When the pressure starts coming, I'm not talking about letting a 3-0 lead slip away, you want to win so bad, you've got to learn how to play that game."