By AARON BEARD AP Sports Writer
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers wasted no time snatching home-ice advantage in the Eastern Conference final.
Carter Verhaeghe and Aaron Ekblad scored two tone-setting first-period goals while Sergei Bobrovsky remained strong in net as the Panthers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 in Tuesday night’s opener of their Eastern Conference final series.
A.J. Greer added a goal by finishing off a perfect 2-on-1 transition chance in the second period for Florida, while Sam Bennett added a third-period score that erased any lingering doubt — only to see Eetu Luostarinen add another one late to make it 5-1 and keep pouring it on.
“We love to win, of course,” Bennett said. “That’s why we’re here, that’s why we put in all these hours. That’s why we do the hard things that are necessary to win. It’s because we love it that much. We have one goal in mind and that’s going to be our focus the whole way.”
Bobrovsky held up with 31 saves, including during a stretch in which the Panthers failed to get a shot on goal for more than 15 minutes spanning the second intermission. It came 48 hours after the Panthers had beaten Toronto in a road Game 7 to advance and set up a rematch of the Eastern final from two years ago.
Florida swept that one with four one-goal margins, including Game 1 in four overtimes. And just as before, the Panthers have immediately ripped home-ice advantage from a team that was 5-0 at home in these playoffs.
“I think we didn’t love our game,” Verhaeghe said. “We liked our game, obviously anytime you win in the playoffs.”
Sebastian Aho tallied Carolina’s lone score when the outcome was in doubt, with Seth Jarvis’ pass banging off Aho’s right skate to slide under Bobrovsky in the dying seconds of the first to make it 2-1. But Florida got Greer’s finish off a backhand feed from Niko Mikkola to beat Frederik Andersen to push the margin back to two goals early in the second.
Andersen had been elite in the postseason, but found himself alone with Verhaeghe at the edge of the crease for a quick power-play goal that beat him to the upper right corner. He was later shielded by Brad Marchand on Bennett’s score, which fittingly ended the 15-minute stretch without a shot on goal.
Those both came with the man advantage, a glaring stat against Carolina’s penalty kill that had been the postseason’s best by allowing two goals on 30 attempts through two rounds.
“When they got the two power-play goals, I think that’s really the difference in the game,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “You’ve got to kill those. You’ve got to give them credit; when they get a chance it’s in the net. … They play a heavy, hard game, but they can score.”
Jackson Blake scored a late goal for Carolina in a finish that included Marchand being tossed for a game-misconduct penalty — including being escorted off by an official while shouting back toward center ice — after a tussle with Carolina’s Shayne Gostisbehere.
The loss marked Carolina’s 13th straight in a conference final, going back being swept in 2009, 2019 and 2023.
Game 2 is back at Carolina on Thursday night.