The Florida Panthers will play for the Stanley Cup for the second time in their history.
The Panthers entered the postseason as the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference but defeated the Presidents' Trophy-winning Boston Bruins in seven games in the first round, the Toronto Maple Leafs in five games in the second round and swept the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final.
Here's a look at the Panthers' road to the Stanley Cup Final:
April 17: Game 1, Eastern Conference First Round, TD Garden: Bruins 3, Panthers 1
The Panthers eked into the playoffs by one point and entered as the second wild card from the Eastern Conference and had to play the Bruins, who had the most wins (65) and points (135) in a season in NHL history. David Pastrnak gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal 5:58 into the game before Brad Marchand extended it to 2-0 in the second. Matthew Tkachuk got the Panthers on the board, but Jake DeBrusk's insurance goal late in the second gave Boston a 3-1 lead. Alex Lyon made 26 saves for Florida in his first NHL playoff start.
April 19: Game 2, Eastern Conference First Round, TD Garden: Panthers 6, Bruins 3
With the game tied 2-2 after 40 minutes, Florida scored the next four goals, including Brandon Montour's goal 22 seconds into the third for a 3-2 lead. Carter Verhaeghe, Montour and Eetu Luostarinen also added goals for a 6-2 lead and Lyon made 34 saves for his first playoff win to help Florida even the best-of-7 series.
April 21: Game 3, Eastern Conference First Round, FLA Live Arena: Bruins 4, Panthers 2
The Panthers were unable to get any offense going until the third period when they were trailing 4-0. Gustav Forsling and Sam Reinhart scored in the final 5:19 to make it 4-2 but that's as close as Florida would get. Lyon made 23 saves for Florida, which trailed 2-1 in the series.
April 23: Game 4, Eastern Conference First Round, FLA Live Arena: Bruins 6, Panthers 2
Marchand and DeBrusk gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead before Tkachuk scored with 4:00 remaining in the second to get Florida on the board. Boston added four goals in the third, including three straight after Sam Bennett made it a one-goal game (3-2) at 6:11 of the period. In his first start of the playoffs, Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves for Florida, which was put on the brink of elimination.
April 26: Game 5, Eastern Conference First Round, TD Garden:
Florida had three one-goal leads but was unable to hold on to any of them. Tied 3-3 in the third period, the Panthers were seconds away from being eliminated, but Bobrovsky stopped Marchand on a breakaway to send the game into overtime. Bobrovsky made 44 saves, and Tkachuk got his third goal of the series at 6:05 to give Florida the win and get them within 3-2 in the series.
The Panthers managed to stay alive in a wild game that saw seven goals in the third period. Florida had leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 before Pastrnak's power-play goal at 3:53 of the third gave Boston a 4-3 lead. Zac Dalpe responded for Florida to tie it, but DeBrusk made it 5-4 with a short-handed goal three minutes later. Tkachuk and Eetu Luostarinen scored to give the Panthers a 6-5 lead before Reinhart's empty-net goal with 28 seconds remaining sealed the 7-5 win and forced Game 7.
Montour scored in the first period and Reinhart made it 2-0 1:14 into the second. Boston scored the next three goals, including power-play goals by David Krejci and Tyler Bertuzzi, to take a 3-2 lead. With their season on the line, Montour scored with 1:00 remaining in the third and Bobrovsky pulled for an extra skater to tie the game. Verhaeghe scored at 8:35 of overtime and the Panthers came back from down 3-1 to stun the top-seeded Bruins and win the series.
After dispatching the Bruins, the Panthers faced the Maple Leafs in the second round, once again beginning on the road. Nick Cousins got Florida on the board first and Bennett gave them a 2-0 lead at 7:58 of the second period. Matthew Knies and Michal Bunting tied it with goals for Toronto before Verhaeghe scored with 2:13 left in the second for a 3-2 Florida lead. Montour added an insurance goal in the third and the Panthers won their fourth straight game to take a 1-0 series lead.
The Comeback Cats were at it again, trailing 2-0 less than six minutes into the game and 2-1 after 20 minutes. But Aleksander Barkov and Forsling scored in the first 1:06 of the second for a 3-2 lead and Bobrovsky made 35 saves to give the Panthers a 2-0 series lead with their fifth straight win.
Florida again trailed early before tying the game twice in the second period on goals by Anthony Duclair and Verhaeghe. Neither team scored in the third and Florida got an overtime goal by Reinhart at 3:02 for a 3-2 win. The Panthers won their sixth straight game to move within one win of the Eastern Conference Final.
Facing elimination, the Maple Leafs took a 1-0 lead 3:29 into the second period with a power-play goal by William Nylander. They doubled the lead with a Mitchell Marner goal at 10:03 of the third. Reinhart got Florida within 2-1 with a power-play goal at 12:13, but Video: FLA@BOS, Gm5: Tkachuk lifts in backhand for OT win stood tall, making 24 saves in his first NHL playoff start to keep the Maple Leafs alive.
Aaron Ekblad and Verhaeghe put Florida up 2-0 in the first, but Toronto responded with goals from Morgan Rielly in the second and Nylander in the third to tie the game 2-2. Bobrovsky kept the Panthers in it, making 50 saves before Cousins scored on a wrist shot from the left circle at 15:32 of overtime for the series winner. It was the fourth overtime win of the playoffs for Florida and its sixth straight road win to advance to the conference final for the first time since 1996.
Florida began the third round against the second-best team in the NHL during the regular season and quickly proved they could keep up with them. Seth Jarvis gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead with 12 seconds remaining in the first period but Barkov and Verhaeghe scored goals 2:15 apart for a 2-1 lead after two periods. Stefan Noesen tied the game 3:47 into the third before the teams went three overtimes without scoring. With 13 seconds remaining in the fourth overtime, Tkachuk scored his second OT goal of the playoffs for a 3-2 win and 1-0 lead in the series. Bobrovsky made 29 saves in regulation and another 34 during the four overtimes for a total of 63.
This game required far less overtime for the Panthers to win, but it was Tkachuk again who scored the winner, this time 1:51 in with a power-play goal. Jalen Chatfield gave Carolina a 1-0 lead 1:43 into the game and Barkov tied it at 7:43 of the second. Bobrovsky made 37 saves for the Panthers, who won their eighth straight road game and took a 2-0 series lead. Florida also improved to 6-0 in overtime during the playoffs.
This game was all about Bobrovsky, who made 32 saves and got his first playoff shutout in 64 career games. It was the eighth straight game he allowed two or fewer goals, and he got all the support he needed from a power-play goal by Reinhart in the second period. The Hurricanes pulled Frederik Andersen with 3:22 remaining but were unable to get the tying goal. Florida's 1-0 victory moved it within one win of the Cup Final.
Who else but Tkachuk would be the hero for the Panthers? With the game tied 3-3 in the third period, he scored a power-play goal in front with 4.9 seconds left to send the Panthers to the Cup Final for the first time since 1996. Tkachuk also had another power-play goal earlier in the game, and Bobrovsky made 36 saves for Florida, which won for the 11th time in 12 games.
