Matthew Tkachuk scored twice, including the game-winning goal with just under five seconds in regulation, as the Florida Panthers edged the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 to advance to the Cup Final Stanley.
Anthony Duclair and Ryan Lomberg scored the other Panthers goals. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 36 shots in the win.
Paul Stastny, Teuvo Teravainen and Jesper Fast scored for the Hurricanes. Frederik Andersen made 20 saves.
Duclair took advantage of a loose puck, as Andersen looked for the puck after a shot hit the post on a Panthers overplay, to fire into an open cage and make it 1-0 after just 41 seconds of game.
With 18:34 to go in the first period, Sam Bennett hit Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin hard, and he struggled to get up.
Slavin left for the locker room with the help of the trainers, while several penalties were awarded in the seconds following Bennett’s check.
Left alone in net, Tkachuk doubled the Panthers’ power play lead with 9:37 remaining in the first period. Tkachuk beat Andersen by shooting between the pads as the keeper moved.
Also on the power play, Stastny cut the lead to 2-1 a few minutes later. Stastny deflected a point shot off the post and collected a loose puck behind Bobrovsky to score an important goal for the Hurricanes.
Brady Skjei and Jordan Martinook had assists on Stastny’s fourth playoff goal.
After 2:51 of play in the second period, Teravainen tied the game at 2-2 on assists from Skjei and Jesperi Kotkaniemi. The Hurricanes started the period strong, and Teravainen took advantage of the traffic in front of Bobrovsky’s net to score his first goal of the playoffs.
Teravainen returned to the Hurricanes roster a few days ago against the Panthers after suffering a first-round injury against the New York Islanders.
Midway through the second period, Lomberg completed a magnificent play, which he himself had started near the boards, from Colin White and Eric Staal.
Lomberg passed the puck to Staal, who passed the puck to White, free to the right of the keeper. White made a nice fake and Andersen compromised. Not having much space left to deposit the puck in the net left open by the Hurricanes target, White made the pass to Lomberg, who only had to push the puck behind the goal line.
Fast gave the Hurricanes hope with 3:22 left in regulation. The attacker went there with a shot from the wrists on reception, when Martinook gave him the disc from behind the net.
With 57 seconds remaining, Jordan Staal picked up a penalty that allowed Tkachuk to play the heroes on the power play. With just under five seconds left, the Panthers scored the game-winning goal and won 4-3.
Captain Aleksander Barkov and his teammates weren’t afraid to ignore the famous superstition of association runners-up trophies. They brought the Prince of Wales Trophy with them to the locker room, after celebrating in front of their supporters after the match.