2023-05-25 09:00:45
The Florida Panthers are in the Stanley Cup Finals for the second time in their history. Coach Paul Maurice’s team beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 in the play-off semifinals of the North American ice hockey league NHL on Wednesday and won the “best of seven” series 4-0.
Matthew Tkachuk scored with 4.9 seconds to go, making a return to the Stanley Cup Finals after a 27-year wait. It was the second goal of the night for the 25-year-old striker and his ninth goal in the play-offs. Previously, the home team had twice equalized after leading 2-0 and 3-2.
The Panthers, who were the last team to make the play-offs in the East, are still the favorites in the knockout games. In the first round they knocked out the outstanding team from the regular season with the Boston Bruins, in the quarterfinals they prevailed against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Now the Florida franchise eliminated the second-best team in the regular season in just four games.
The Panthers had previously reached the NHL Finals series in 1996, losing four times to the Colorado Avalanche. This time they are likely to meet the Vegas Golden Knights, who lead 3-1 in the Western Conference Finals against the Dallas Stars and can secure promotion in Dallas on Thursday (today).
Wednesday’s NHL Result – Playoff Semifinals (“best of seven”): Eastern Conference, Finals: Florida Panthers 4-Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 – Final Series tie: 4-0.
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