RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — The Carolina Hurricanes were looking for a bounce back game Thursday night, but instead were overwhelmed by the Florida Panthers.
The defending Stanley Cup champions shut out the Canes 5-0 at the Lenovo Center to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Final.
The offensive onslaught started early. The Panthers’ Gustav Forsling found the net just one minute and 17 seconds into the game, assisted by Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett. By the end of the first period, both of those players would also score their own goals. Tkachuk, assisted by Carter Verhaeghe and Niko Mikkola, tipped in a goal at the 11:41 mark of the period. A little over three minutes later, Bennett scored with another assist from Verhaeghe and from Rodrigues to make it 3-0 after just 20 minutes of game time.
But Bennett wasn’t done. With less than 40 seconds left in the second period, he netted his second goal of the night. Verhaeghe recorded his third assist of the night on the goal, while Aaron Ekblad had his first.
Carolina replaced goalie Frederik Andersen with Pyotr Kochetkov for the third period, but the Panthers still found a way to score. A final goal by Aleksander Barkov at the 13:49 mark of the third period gave Florida the 5-0 shutout.
The series now shifts to Sunrise, Fla. Puck drop for Game 3 is scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday night at Amerant Bank Arena.
