RECAP: Tkachuk's late power-play goal sends Panthers to Stanley Cup Final

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Don't pinch yourself too hard.

The Florida Panthers are heading to the Stanley Cup Final.

Getting back to the big dance for the first time since 1996, the Panthers completed their sweep of the Carolina Hurricanes with a thrilling 4-3 win in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final at FLA Live Arena on Wednesday.

Providing the heroics for the third straight game, Matthew Tkachuk scored the game-winning goal on the power play with just five seconds left in regulation to lock in the incredible victory.

Afterwards, the Panthers didn't hold back from grabbing the Prince of Wales Trophy.

"The last thing that we're going to do is be is superstitious about not touching it," said Tkachuk, who leads the Panthers in playoff scoring with 21 points (nine goals, 12 assists). "Like, nobody said we were even going to make the playoffs. I think it's pretty cool to touch it, carry it around and take pictures with it. We earned that thing. Definitely didn't do it the easy way."

They certainly did not.

Making the playoffs by just one point, the Panthers join the 2021 Montreal Canadiens and 2017 Nashville Predators as the only teams in the NHL's expansion era (since 1967-68) to advance to the Stanley Cup Final after entering the postseason as the lowest-seeded team in the league.

En route to the Stanley Cup Final, the Panthers came back from a 3-1 series deficit to beat the 65-win Boston Bruins in Round 1, dispatched the star-studded Toronto Maple Leafs in just five games in Round 2, and then swept the Metropolitan Division-winning Hurricanes in Round 3.

They did it the hard way, which is just how they've liked it.

"It's hard to explain right now," said Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov, who is in his 10th season with the organization. "Everything happened so quick. It means a lot. It definitely does. To get to this point, you know how hard you need to work. You see how many great teams we've beat in the playoffs so far. It hasn't been easy, and no one said it was going to be easy. We're really happy for what we just did, but we all know there's another big series coming up soon."

Before we look ahead to the Stanley Cup Final, here's how Game 4 unfolded.

Giving the sellout crowd in Sunrise something to cheer about only moments after fans had taken their seats, Anthony Duclair broke the ice just 41 seconds into the first period when he followed up on his own rebound and fired a shot into the net to put the Panthers up 1-0.

That goal was the third-fastest strike to start a playoff game in franchise history.

Netting a power-play goal for the third straight game, the Panthers doubled their lead when Tkachuk collected a feed from Aaron Ekblad and beat Frederik Andersen from right on top of the crease to make it 2-0 at 10:23 with his team-leading eighth goal of the playoffs.

Cutting the deficit in half for the Hurricanes, Paul Stastny answered back when he crashed the net after a shot from Brady Skjei went off the post and poked the ensuing loose puck out from behind Sergei Bobrovsky across the goal line to bring the score to 2-1 at 13:03.

Tying things up in the second period, Teuvo Teravainen pounced on a loose puck in the slot and roofed a shot into the top of the cage to make it 2-2 at 2:51. Putting the Panthers back on top later in the period, Ryan Lomberg finished off a tic-tac-toe sequence to make it 3-2 at 9:49.

"Those guys will value it more," Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said of the team's fourth line coming up in the clutch. "Eric Staal fully understands the importance of such a huge goal. Ryan, injured, comes back.

"There's 100 great stories in that room, but that fourth line is clearly one of them. It's nice that they get an obvious piece to the win. It's not just grinding a few pucks out and blocking a few shots. They get to enjoy the arms up and being on the ice."

Not going down without a fight, the Hurricanes pulled even with 3:22 left on the clock when Jesper Fast scored from in close to make it 3-3. But after Gustav Forsling drew a tripping penalty on Jordan Staal with 57 seconds left, the Panthers had an immediate opportunity to make amends.

Enter Tkachuk.

Matching the NHL record for the latest series-clinching goal in regulation, he ensured the series would not see overtime for a third time when he carried the puck out from behind the net and ripped a shot into the twine from the slot to put Florida up 4-3 with five ticks left on the clock.

What came next was one of the rawest celebrations you'll ever see.

"I think Chucky's that guy," Lomberg said. "No surprise."

Despite winning some nice hardware, the Panthers still have a bigger trophy in mind.

"It's a cool feeling, there's no doubt about it," said Ekblad, who's in his ninth season with the organization. "Eastern Conference champions is really cool, no doubt about it. But at the end of the day we have our eyes set on something different. It's a great opportunity, a chance, to do it, right? What a cool feeling."

CATS QUOTES

"It's something we've been dreaming of forever. Now is the time. Now is the opportunity. We're really happy, but we're not done. We're not finished. We have more energy and can't wait for the Finals to start." - Anton Lundell

"We've got few weeks left of this, and hopefully they're going to be the best weeks of our lives." - Matthew Tkachuk

"I'm enjoying this moment. It feels great. It's a great opportunity, a great spot. I'm proud to be with my teammates in this spot. It's a privilege to compete shoulder to shoulder with them and go through lots of things." - Sergei Bobrovsky

"It's not easy. [The Hurricanes] have a great coach, great team. Again, I'm tremendously proud of the group." - Ryan Lomberg

CATS NOTES

• The Panthers became the third team in NHL history to eliminate three of the NHL's top four regular-season teams in the same postseason.

• For the fourth consecutive year, the Stanley Cup Final will feature a Florida-based team.

• Matthew Tkachuk became the second player in franchise history with a series-clinching goal to send the Panthers to the Final, joining Tom Fitzgerald in Game 7 of the 1996 Conference Finals.

• The Panthers have won 11 of their last 12 games.

• Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 168 of 174 (.966%) shots in the Eastern Conference Final.

• Every Panthers defenseman recorded at least one blocked shot in Game 4. - Carter Verhaeghe has tallied five points in potential clinching games in this year's playoffs.

• Eetu Luostarinen exited in the second period after blocking a shot and did not return.

WHAT'S NEXT?

After sweeping the Hurricanes, the Panthers will now have to wait to find out if they'll face either the Vegas Golden Knights or Dallas Stars in the Stanley Cup Final. As it stands now, the Knights own a 3-0 series lead in the Western Conference Final. Game 4 will be played on Thursday.

Once that series has been decided, a schedule for the Stanley Cup Final will be revealed.

Stay tuned to FloridaPanthers.com for updates.