The Florida Panthers continued their impressive playoff streak early Friday morning, beating the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 in four-time overtime despite reversing an earlier overtime goal in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Matthew Tkachuk scored his second OT goal of the postseason with 12.7 seconds left in the fourth overtime, ending the sixth-longest game in NHL history.
“Probably my favorite song of my life so far,” Tkachuk said. “It’s important that there aren’t five extensions there.”
Tkachuk was set up by Sam Bennett, whose gross penalty in the third period allowed the Hurricanes to level the game.
The Panthers, on 92 points, won their opener away for the second consecutive season after beating No. 1 overall Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first two rounds.
Tkachuk ruined the game. 😴
Matthew Tkachuk scores the @SUBWAYCanada OT winner for the Panthers in the opening game of the Eastern Conference Finals after four overtime! pic.twitter.com/zXpncuO3R7
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 19, 2023
Ryan Lomberg’s goal after 2:35 of the first overtime was disallowed due to goalie interference by Colin White against Frederik Andersen and the Panthers survived when Seth Jarvis later hit the post.
Sergei Bobrovsky finished the game with 63 saves and Andersen with 57.
“It’s going to be a game of attrition, so to speak,” Bobrovsky said. “You just try to be patient and wait for the right moment to take the shot. One shot at a time.”
The Hurricanes, who finished second in the league with 113 points, lost a series opener for the first time this postseason.
“It’s the worst way to lose, there’s no way around it,” said Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour. “We will regroup and come back for the next game. I mean, it’s just a game.”
Game 2 takes place Saturday night in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The Florida Panthers celebrate their four overtime win over the Carolina Hurricanes.
What did the NHL say about the unrecognized goal?
“Video review revealed that Florida’s Colin White had a significant presence in the goal area and inadvertently made contact with goaltender Frederik Andersen, which affected his ability to play his position in front of Ryan Lomberg’s goal. The decision was made in accordance with Rule 69.1, which states in part “Goals should not be allowed only if: (1) an attacking player, either by his positioning or by contact, interferes with the goalkeeper’s ability to clear himself within his goal crease move or defend his goal.”
We thought Lomberg had the OT winner but NO GOAL after checking goalie interference
pic.twitter.com/VsEXmwVW5Z
— That’s Hockey Talk (@ThatsHockeyTalk) May 19, 2023
What happened to regulation?
Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe scored the goals in the second period that gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead after Jarvis’ goal in the first period, but linemate Anthony Duclair did the work that made them possible.
He stopped a Hurricane onslaught and eventually recovered the puck, carried it into the Carolina zone, circled it and played a perfect pass to Barkov, who defeated Andersen.
On the second goal, he passed to himself from the back of the net and a central shot rebounded from a Hurricanes player to Verhaeghe, who ran to the faceoff circle and fired a shot past Andersen.
The Hurricanes dominated the third period, defeated Florida 14-2 and scored the equalizer through Stefan Noesen on the power play. However, Bobrovsky was sharp and stopped a breakaway by Martin Necas.
Paul Maurice angry about penalty
Panthers coach Paul Maurice was on the bench after the Hurricanes were offered a 5-on-3 power play late in the first period that resulted in Carolina’s first goal.
Marc Staal was already in the penalty box for delaying the game when Aaron Ekblad was called to counter-check Noesen. It wasn’t much of a counter check and Noesen seemed to go down easily.
Jarvis scored on the power play four seconds after Staal’s penalty ended and Maurice was still complaining as he headed into the dressing room for the break.
During the second half, with Florida close to a power play, he said during an on-ice TNT interview, “We’re close to a 5-on-3 here.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The Panthers beat the Hurricanes in four overtime and score an unrecognized goal
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