Hurricanes played waiting game while Florida-Toronto Game 7 played out
Carolina Hurricanes center Jesperi Kotkaniemi settled back in his locker stall Sunday, not knowing who comes next for the Canes, but knowing what to expect.
The Canes had just put in a practice at the Lenovo Center, preparing to play in the NHL’s Eastern Conference Final in the Stanley Cup playoffs. It was noon. Still be determined Sunday night: the Canes’ opponent, which turned out to be the Florida Panthers after their Game 7 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Regardless of the winner, the Canes already knew they would begin the conference final Tuesday. Turns out, with the Panthers advancing, it will be in Raleigh.
For Kotkaniemi, it will mark his third Eastern Conference final in the past five years — first with the Montreal Canadiens, now twice with the Hurricanes. In 2021, Kotkaniemi reached the Stanley Cup Final with the Canadiens before losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
At 24, Kotkaniemi will be competing in his 80th career playoff game Tuesday, and said Sunday there’s nothing that can compare with playoff hockey.
“It’s the intensity,” he said. “Every shift is intense. Every shift matters in the playoffs. You have to be sharp for 60 minutes.”
Or longer, if need be. Against the Panthers in the 2023 conference final, the opening game stretched into a fourth overtime before Florida won.
“It may not be that way in the regular season but in the playoffs you have to be sharp every shift you go out there,” Kotkaniemi said. “Every time you have a good shift or you’re sloppy on a shift, it can matter in a game. These games are all tight, so you have to be aware all the time. All the time.”
Are players more aware that a bad shift or gaffe can cost your team the game, or is it more knowing that a good shift or big play can change or possibly win a game?
“I’d rather think positive,” Kotkaniemi said. “I’d rather go out thinking ‘This shift could be the one to win the game’ and try to be sharp.”
For the Canes, its second-round series against the Washington Capitals was decided on such a shift. In Game 5 in Washington, the teams were locked in a 1-1 tie in the final minutes of regulation.
The Caps’ Alexander Ovechkin got off a heavy shot from the right circle but Canes defenseman Sean Walker got his stick on the puck and deflected it. The Canes quickly transitioned to the offensive zone and Andrei Svechnikov got off a sharp-angle shot that beat goalie Logan Thompson with 1:59 left in regulation.
For the record: Svechnikov said Sunday his shot went cleanly under Thompson’s glove to the far side of the net. It was the game-winner as the Canes advanced Thursday with a 3-1 victory at Capital One Arena.
Awaiting the winner of the Toronto-Florida series allowed the Canes to get some rest time before getting back on the ice Sunday. Defenseman Jalen Chatfield, who missed Game 5 in Washington with an undisclosed injury, was not at Sunday’s practice. Nor was defenseman Dmitry Orlov, and forward Jordan Martinook left practice early.
Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said he was hopeful all would be ready for the opener while saying Chatfield might be questionable. Chatfield’s absence in Game 5 allowed Russian defenseman Alexander Nikishin to make his NHL debut.
“It’s a long, long grind,” Kotkaniemi said. “The regular season is so long and it’s good to get a couple of days here. We have time to be with families and hopefully be fresh going into the new one.”
Once a series begins, it’s about facing the same team almost every other night for as many as seven games. Kotkaniemi has compared the games to being like a “gladiator” going out to face the same foe, again and again, until one finally falls.
“You create little battles when the series goes on and on,” he said; “You start to learn the habits from every player on the other team. You know you have a new chance the next game, most likely playing against the same guys. It’s all part of the fun.”
Growing up in Finland, Kotkaniemi said he knew nothing about the Stanley Cup until Teemu Selanne — the “Finnish Flash” and now a Hockey Hall of Famer — was a Cup winner with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007. That was just before Kotkaniemi’s seventh birthday.
“And even then I didn’t know much about the Cup besides him winning it and it was all over TV,” he said.
That changed. Montreal made Kotkaniemi the third pick of the 2018 NHL draft — just behind Svechnikov and the Canes — and he played for the Cup three years later.
Kotkaniemi also has learned a little more about the Hurricanes winning the Cup in 2006. He was told Sunday about the wild scene in the Canes’ locker room after the final game against Edmonton.
Kotkaniemi was intrigued about the celebration, liking the sound of it.
“Why not do that again?” he said, smiling.
This story was originally published May 19, 2025 at 11:30 AM.
