Hurricanes stay alive, shut out Panthers in Game 4, send series back to Raleigh
The Carolina Hurricanes still have hockey to play.
Faced with a win-or-else game against the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference Final, the Hurricanes responded with a 3-0 victory Monday in Game 4 behind goalie Frederik Andersen.
The Panthers, who had taken a 3-0 lead in the series and were looking to close it out, must travel back to Raleigh for Game 5 on Wednesday.
Logan Stankoven gave the Canes their first lead of the series in the second period, and Sebastian Aho and Jordan Staal had late empty-net goals to seal the victory at Amerant Bank Arena.
“I think we showed a lot of heart,” Aho said. “We battled really hard. Freddie was unreal, but the guys in front of him were selling out. And on the small little details, we were dialed in.
“I thought we played really good defense. We made the hard plays and kept them without scoring chances.”
Andersen kept them from scoring when the chances did come for the Panthers, who outscored the Canes 16-4 in the first three games. After Pyotr Kochetkov was the starting goalie in Game 3, Andersen was given the start Monday by Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour and turned back all 20 shots for his fifth career playoff shutout.
“He looked confident, but he always does,” Brind’Amour said. “He’s not a goalie who’s throwing himself around. He’s always in control. But there were some real tough shots that looked easy tonight. That’s when you know he’s on.”
For a team that had been overmatched and badly outscored in the first three games of the series, the Canes were the better team for much of Game 4.
They outhustled the Panthers for loose pucks, won board battles, played with a purpose in all three zones, blocked shots, killed off penalties, got key stops from Andersen.
For the first time in the series, the Hurricanes scored the first goal of the game when Stankoven, with an opening down the left wing, ripped a shot past goalie Sergei Bobrovsky at 10:45 of the second period.
That came after a backhand pass from rookie defenseman Alexander Nikishin, who earned his first point as an NHL player and was solid defensively.
The Canes believed they had made it 2-0 in the third when center Mark Jankowski took a pass from Eric Robinson in the low slot and whipped it past Bobrovsky.
The Panthers used a coach’s challenge, claiming offside on the entry, and won it as Robinson was ruled offside. It stayed 1-0.
On one penalty kill in the third period, both Aho and Shayne Gostisbehere skidded across the ice to nudge the puck out of the Carolina zone.
In the second period, Canes forward Jordan Martinook made a painful block to stop a shot by Aaron Ekblad on a Panthers power play.
The Panthers finished 0-4 on the power play, with four power-play shots against a team missing two key penalty killers in injured defensemen Jalen Chatfield and Sean Walker.
“You definitely gain momentum off the kill and we had some big ones in big moments of the game,” Aho said. “And Freddie was unreal. I felt like he saw everything, every puck.”
The Hurricanes lost the first two games of the series at Lenovo Center but went to Florida for the next two intent on taking the series back to Raleigh. After a complete-game victory, the Canes are doing that.
“I think we can enjoy this game for a little bit but we know they’re not going away,” Brind’Amour said of the Panthers. “This is not even a blip on the radar for them. But we have to keep the gas down, keep the hammer down, and give ourselves a chance again in the next game.”
For the Canes, there is a next game.
“You get to play another day,” Andersen said.
Svechnikov tries to stay positive
After his offensive outburst in the first two rounds of the playoffs, when he scored eight goals in 10 games, Svechnikov has been held without a goal and was limited to one shot in the first three games of the series by the aggressive Panthers.
“Entering the offensive zone they’ve tried to challenge us at the blue line and they try to get the puck and play us tight all the time.,” Svechnikov said Monday. “We need to get the puck down low and try to outwork them.”
Svechnikov said it has been slightly frustrating trying to find offensive openings, but said, “Only good vibes right now and try to think positive, go out there and have the best game you can.
“It’s not that I’m not trying to do the right things. I’m trying to get the shots. I know I’m trying. It just hasn’t happened. But I have to stay positive.”
Forsling left Canes, shines with Panthers
Panthers defenseman Gus Forsling was once cast off by the Hurricanes. Now, for the second time in three seasons, he was in position to help end the Canes’ season and send them home.
Forsling, 28, was twice put on waivers by the Hurricanes, and was taken on waivers by the Panthers the second time in January 2021. The Swede said he was not given a reason by anyone in the Carolina organization for those decisions.
“Nothing. They never told me anything,” he said Monday after an optional skate before Game 4.
Since coming to the Panthers, Forsling has gotten bigger physically and developed into one of the league’s most effective D-men. He also has a Stanley Cup ring after last year’s run.
“I put a lot of work in the gym, off the ice,” he said. “Then, the work on the ice, of course. A lot of it is confidence, too. When you have an organization that has a belief in you, a lot of things can change.”
This story was originally published May 26, 2025 at 1:38 PM.
