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Sunrise, FL - The Carolina Hurricanes finally found life in the Eastern Conference Finals, shutting out the Florida Panthers 3-0 on Monday night to avoid a sweep and extend the series.
Goaltender Frederik Andersen returned to the net and delivered a flawless performance, stopping all 20 shots he faced to earn his fifth career playoff shutout.
Rookie forward Logan Stankoven broke the deadlock midway through the second period, taking a cross-ice feed from Alexander Nikishin and beating Panthers netminder Sergei Bobrovsky with a high shot to the blocker side.
It marked the Hurricanes' first lead in an East finals game since 2023 and ended a scoring drought that had spanned over six full games.
Carolina’s win was its first in the Eastern Conference Finals since 2006, when they defeated Buffalo in Game 7 en route to winning the Stanley Cup.
The Hurricanes had previously lost 15 straight games in the East finals, including sweeps in 2009, 2019, and 2023, as well as the first three games of this series.
Florida was unable to generate consistent offense and struggled without several key players, including Sam Reinhart, Niko Mikkola, and A.J. Greer, who were sidelined due to injuries.
The Panthers managed only 12 shots through the first two periods and couldn’t recover from Stankoven’s second-period strike.
Veterans Sebastian Aho and Jordan Staal sealed the win with empty-net goals late in the third period.
Game 5 heads to Raleigh on Wednesday, with Carolina looking to continue its comeback.