Photo: Grant Faint / The Image Bank / Getty Images
Miami, FL - The Florida Panthers delivered a dominant third-period performance Saturday night, scoring five goals in under 10 minutes to defeat the Carolina Hurricanes 6-2 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
The win gives Florida a commanding 3-0 series lead and puts them one victory away from their third consecutive Stanley Cup Final appearance.
Aleksander Barkov and Niko Mikkola each scored twice for the Panthers, with Jesper Boqvist, filling in for the injured Sam Reinhart, adding the go-ahead goal early in the final period.
Brad Marchand also found the net, and Sergei Bobrovsky held strong in goal with 23 saves.
Carolina’s goals came from Logan Stankoven and Seth Jarvis, but the team’s conference finals struggles continued.
The Hurricanes have now lost 15 straight games in the Eastern Finals, dating back to series sweeps by Pittsburgh in 2009, Boston in 2019, Florida in 2023, and now face elimination once again.
The Hurricanes switched goaltenders in Game 3, turning to Pyotr Kochetkov after Frederik Andersen allowed nine goals in the series' first five periods.
Kochetkov was solid through two periods, stopping 14 of 15 shots, but crumbled in the third as Florida’s offense erupted.
The first goal came on a fortunate bounce, when Mikkola’s attempted pass deflected off a Carolina defender and slipped past Kochetkov.
Stankoven tied the game late in the second with a power play goal, but Florida dominated the final 20 minutes.
Game 4 takes place Monday night in Sunrise, where the Panthers can close out the series on home ice.