Panthers finish off Canes, return to Cup Final

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Carter Verhaeghe broke a tie off a feed from Aleksander Barkov with 7:39 left and the defending champion Florida Panthers advanced to their third straight Stanley Cup Final, beating the Carolina Hurricanes 5-3 on Wednesday night in Game 5.

Florida beat the Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference final for the second time in three seasons. The Panthers will face the winner of the Western final between Dallas and Edmonton, with the Oilers up 3-1 in that best-of-seven series to put them within a win of a rematch with Florida for the Cup.

Sam Bennett added an empty-net goal with 54 seconds left by skating down a loose puck straight out of the penalty box after Florida had held up against a critical late power play for the Hurricanes.

That capped a wild night that saw the Hurricanes jump to a 2-0 lead, and Florida answer with three second-period goals, only to see Carolina's Seth Jarvis beat Sergei Bobrovsky midway through the third to tie it at 3.

When it was over, the Panthers posed for pictures on Carolina's home ice during the presentation of the Prince of Wales Trophy for the conference winner. Some Hurricanes fans remained defiant, offering scattered "Let's go, Oilers!" chants.

The angst is appropriate considering how Florida has now twice ended Carolina's push to its first Cup Final since winning the franchise's lone title in 2006 when now-coach Rod Brind'Amour was captain.

Florida had won the first three games of this series but lost 3-0 at home Monday night as the Hurricanes averted a second straight sweep against Florida. But by the final horn Wednesday, the Panthers had won all three games in Raleigh in the series, pushed their road winning streak in these playoffs to five games and earned an eighth postseason road win overall.

Matthew Tkachuk, Evan Rodrigues and Anton Lundell scored on consecutive shots during Florida's second-period flurry, while Bobrovsky finished with 20 saves.

Barkov's assist on Verhaeghe's winner also stood out as its own terrific individual effort. Florida's captain was jostling with Carolina's Dmitry Orlov in a battle near the boards on the left side when he turned toward the crease, stepped inside of Eric Robinson and sent the puck over to Verhaeghe for the finish that silenced a Hurricanes home crowd in full-throated roar after Jarvis' tying score.

Sebastian Aho scored twice in the first period for Carolina, both on neutral-zone giveaways - the first being one from Gustav Forsling that hit Aho in stride for a a breakaway chance that ended up in the net. Aho added another off a giveaway from Niko Mikkola with little more than a minute left in the first for a 2-0 lead.

Carolina has won at least one postseason series in its current run of seven straight playoff appearances, though three have now ended in the Eastern final.