The Carolina Hurricanes will play the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference Final.
Carolina eliminated the New Jersey Devils with a 3-2 overtime win in Game 5 of the second round Thursday to advance to the conference final for the first time since 2019, when it was swept by the Boston Bruins. Florida advanced with a 3-2 overtime victory at the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 5 on Friday.
The Hurricanes (52-21-9), who are the No. 1 seed from the Metropolitan Division, will have home-ice advantage against the Panthers (42-32-8), the second wild card from the East. They have reached the conference final for the first time since 1996, when they defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins in seven games before being swept by the Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup Final.
Carolina and Florida have never played each other in the postseason.
"You don't really look too far ahead," Hurricanes defenseman Brent Burns said. "You just want to have a chance at it, and I said from the start you just want to be a part of something special and be part of the grind and it's just been a fun year."
Sebastian Aho and Jordan Martinook lead Carolina with 10 points apiece this postseason. Aho has five goals and five assists. Martinook has three goals and seven assists. Seth Jarvis (four goals, four assists), Jordan Staal (two goals, six assists), Jesper Fast (five goals, three assists) and Burns (two goals, six assists) each has eight points.
Frederik Andersen is 5-0 with a 1.80 goals-against average and .931 save percentage. Antti Raanta is 3-2 with a 2.59 GAA and .906 save percentage. Pyotr Kochetkov allowed four goals on 18 shots and got the loss in his only appearance in relief in an 8-4 loss in Game 3 against the Devils.
"I'm just having fun. That's the biggest takeaway for me," said Andersen, who has started six straight games. "We waited for a few years to get this opportunity and just making the best of it."
Matthew Tkachuk leads the Panthers with 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) in 12 games this postseason. Carter Verhaeghe has 12 points (five goals, seven assists), and Brandon Montour (six goals, three assists) and Aleksander Barkov (two goals, seven assists) each has nine.
Sergei Bobrovsky is 7-2 with a 2.82 goals-against average and .918 save percentage in 10 games (nine starts), including 4-1 with a 1.89 GAA and .943 save percentage against the Maple Leafs in the second round. Alex Lyon went 1-2 with a 3.26 GAA and .902 save percentage in three starts against the Boston Bruins in the first round.
"Nobody in the world thought we were going to be in this position right now, but we don't care what anybody's opinion is on us," Tkachuk said. "We know that it's probably going to be very similar going into this round against a team like Carolina that had tremendous season and have had tons of success the last bunch of years.
"But honestly, I don't want to talk about Carolina yet. We just want to enjoy this win tonight, take a few days and we'll move on to them. It's a big task. But we deserve to enjoy this win tonight. It was a grind of a series even though it was only five games."
The Hurricanes went 2-1-0 against the Panthers during the regular season. Burns (two goals, two assists) and Jarvis (four assists) led Carolina with four points each. Jesperi Kotkaniemi (two goals, one assist) and Aho (one goal, two assists) each had three points.
Andersen made 30 saves in a 6-4 win on April 13. Raanta was 1-1-0, including making 19 saves in a 4-0 win Dec. 30.
Montour and Radko Gudas each had three assists against the Hurricanes in the regular season, and Barkov had two goals. Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett each had a goal and an assist.
Bobrovsky, who has started the past nine games for the Panthers, did not play against the Hurricanes during the regular season. Lyon allowed four goals on 34 shots in his only start in the 6-4 loss. Spencer Knight, who is currently in the NHL the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program, was 1-1-0 with a 2.00 GA and .946 save percentage.
Florida coach Paul Maurice held the same position with Hartford/Carolina from 1995-2004 and 2009-11.
"That's where all three of my kids were born; that was a big part of our life there," Maurice said. "I think I coached all three of their coaches, which makes me old. But I am. I'm looking forward to it."
"I don't think you can understate it with those guys that we have missing," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "… It says a lot about these other guys that are finally getting some credit. You don't have them, you have no chance. I'm just really proud of the group. I'm just an old guy sitting behind the bench and just watching how hard everybody's working together. It's a great group."
NHL.com staff writer Tom Gulitti contributed to this report
