Another big finish: Panthers to play for Cup
Tkachuk’s second goal seals sweep, lifts them into Stanley Cup Final for first time since ’ 96.
SUNRISE, Fla. — Matthew Tkachuk delivered for Florida, again. Sergei Bobrovsky denied Carolina, again.
The wait is over: After 27 years, the Panthers — a hockey punchline no more — are again going to play for the game’s grandest prize.
Tkachuk got his second goal of the game with 4.9 seconds left, lifting the Panthers past the Hurricanes 4- 3 and into the Stanley Cup Final for the f irst time since 1996.
Bobrovsky stopped 36 shots to cap his stellar series — four games, four one- goal wins, three of them basically in sudden death. The f irst two were in overtime, and this one may as well have been.
The Panthers will play either Vegas or Dallas for the Stanley Cup starting next week; Vegas leads the Western Conference final 3- 0.
The Panthers scored 10 goals in the series, and Bobrovsky ensured those were all they needed. They were the No. 8 seed, the last team in, the longest of long shots.
And now, beasts of the East. Tkachuk arrived last summer saying he wanted to bring Florida a Cup. He’s four wins away.
“It’s amazing,” Bobrovsky said. “We showed the resilience ... and we’re lucky to have Chucky on our side. He knows how to score big goals.”
Ryan Lomberg and Anthony Duclair had the other goals for Florida, which swept a series for the f irst time in team history.
Carolina’s Jordan Staal took a tripping penalty with 57 seconds left in regulation, setting up the power play that Tkachuk finished off.
Jesper Fast seemed like he might have saved the season for Carolina, getting a tying goal with 3: 22 left in regulation. Paul Stastny and Teuvo Teravainen had the first two goals of the night for the Hurricanes, while Brady Skjei and Jordan Martinook each had two assists.
But the night — and the series — belonged to the Panthers. They were swept by Colorado in the 1996 final.
Towels waved, strobe lights f lashed, and the fans wasted no time letting the Panthers know that they were ready for a clincher.
Tkachuk made it 2- 0 on the power play midway through the first. Carolina — a 113- point, division- championship- winning team this season — made it 2- 1 later in the f irst on Stastny’s goal, and Teravainen tied it early in the second.
Lomberg’s goal midway through the second gave Florida the lead again. It stayed that way until Fast got the equalizer, and then Tkachuk finished it off.