"I think it was a bit of a tougher grind for us than it was for them," Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. "It's not a lack of mental toughness. These guys have gone to the well for two and a half months. They've been pushing. But they did. They found a way to get it back to tied."
Unfortunately it didn't take long for the Hurricanes to regain the momentum. After the refs missed a what looked like a possible trip on Tkachuk, Carolina quickly marched down the ice and went back up when Burns netted his second goal of the night to make it 3-2 at 6:07.
Just 21 seconds later, Jesper Fast found the back of the net to make it 4-2 at 6:28.
After the Panthers pulled their goaltender to gain a 6-on-4 advantage on the power play, the Hurricanes padded their lead when Shayne Gostisbehere exited the box and fired a long shot right into the abandoned cage to make it 5-2 at 17:20.
Time to pack it in? Not for these Panthers.
Not going down without a fight, the Panthers, emptying their net once again for the extra attacker, cut their deficit down to 5-3 when Anthony Duclair beat Andersen with a one-timer at 17:58. Just 38 seconds after that, Carter Verhaeghe potted a rebound to make it 5-4 at 18:36.
But with one minute left on the clock, Sebastian Aho locked in both win and a Metropolitan Division title for the Hurricanes when he buried an empty-net goal to bring the score to 6-4.
"We've shown that for a couple years now," Duclair said of Florida's late push. "We never give up no matter what the score is. It's nice to see that even in Game 82 we've still got that fight. We're gearing up for the playoffs here. We're not taking anything for granted."
