Matthew Tkachuk scored a power-play goal with 4.9 seconds left, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 36 shots to end a brilliant series, and the Florida Panthers earned their first trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in 27 years by beating the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 on Wednesday night. to win the Eastern Conference title by a sweep.

Tkachuk’s goal was his second of the night—and possibly the biggest in Panthers history. The Panthers will play either Vegas or Dallas for the Stanley Cup starting next week; Vegas currently leads the Western Conference title series 3-0.

The Panthers scored 10 goals in the series, and Bobrovsky made sure it was all they needed. Four games, four one-goal wins, three of which came from Tkachuk in dramatic fashion — two in overtime to end Games 1 and 2, and this one capped Florida’s stunning comeback from 8th seed to Eastern champion.

Ryan Lomberg and Anthony Duclair had other goals for Florida, which swept the series for the first time in franchise history.

Jordan Staal – his brothers Eric and Marc played for the Panthers – took a tripped penalty with 57 seconds left in regulation, setting up a power play that Tkachuk completed.

Jesper Fast looked like he might have saved the season for Carolina, earning the tying goal with 3:22 left in regulation. Paul Stastny and Teuvo Teravainen scored the first two goals of the night for the Hurricanes, while Brady Skjei and Jordan Martinook each contributed two assists.

But the night, the series, belongs to the Panthers. They were swept by Colorado in the 1996 final.

The tone is set in advance. Duclair scored 41 seconds into the contest, and less than a minute later Florida’s Sam Bennett hit hard but clean, meaning no penalty was handed down to Carolina’s Jaccob Slavin behind the Hurricanes’ goal.

The towels waved, the strobe lights flashed, and fans wasted no time in letting the Panthers know they were ready to make the cut.

STARS CAPTAIN JAMIE BENN SUSPENDS TWO GAMES AFTER CROSS-CHECK ON ROCK MARK GOLDEN KNIGHTS

Tkachuk made it 2-0 with a power play midway through the first set. Carolina, the division championship winning team with 113 points in the regular season made it 2-1 later on Stastny’s first goal, and Teravainen tied it early in the second.

Lomberg’s goal midway through the second half gave Florida another lead. It remained that way until Fast leveled with 3:22 left, and then Tkachuk finished by sending the Panthers to the title game in his first season.

AROUND DETAILED

Panthers general manager Bill Zito was announced Wednesday morning as the finalist for this year’s NHL GM. Tkachuk’s two goals gave him 21 points in the playoffs extending his Florida single-season postseason streak, which was 17 by Dave Lowry in 1996. Slavin was quickly ruled out for the remainder of the game after Bennett’s streak, with what the Hurricanes said was an “upper body injury.” ” Slavin staggered as he tried to stand up. Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, who was also a game regular for the Miami Heat during their playoff run this spring, beat the drums before the game. When finished, with no microphone to drop, he dropped the hammer instead.

EDGE TWO PURPOSES

Tkachuk’s goal midway through the opening period put Florida 2–0 up and marked the first time, in nearly 14 periods of play up to that point, that a team had gone two goals up in the series. Every action came with either a draw or someone ahead by one in the first 272 minutes (including all overtime) of the draw.