The Florida Panthers seized their second chance to close out the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday night, rallying for a 5-3 win in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final.
Florida entered the night with a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series and avoided a return trip to Sunrise by finishing the job on the road in Raleigh.
The comeback victory sends the Panthers back to the Stanley Cup Final, marking another major step in their postseason run.
Carter Verhaeghe broke a tie off a feed from Aleksander Barkov with 7:39 left.
The Cats beat the Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference final for the second time in three seasons.
The Panthers will face the winner of the Western final between Dallas and Edmonton, with the Oilers up 3-1 in that best-of-seven series to put them within a win of a rematch with Florida for the Cup.
Sam Bennett added an empty-net goal with 54 seconds left by skating down a loose puck straight out of the penalty box after Florida had held up against a critical late power play for the Hurricanes.
That capped a wild night that saw the Hurricanes jump to a 2-0 lead, then Florida answer with three second-period goals, only to see Carolina’s Seth Jarvis beat Sergei Bobrovsky midway through the third to tie it at 3.
When it was over, the Panthers posed for pictures on Carolina’s home ice during the presentation of the Prince of Wales Trophy for the conference winner. Some Hurricanes fans remained defiant, offering scattered “Let’s go, Oilers!” chants.
The angst is appropriate considering how Florida has now twice ended Carolina’s push to its first Cup Final since winning the franchise’s lone title in 2006 when now-coach Rod Brind’Amour was captain.
Florida had won the first three games of this series but lost 3-0 at home Monday night as the Hurricanes averted a second straight sweep against Florida. But by the final horn Wednesday, the Panthers had won all three games in Raleigh in the series, pushed their road winning streak in these playoffs to five games and earned an eighth postseason road win overall.
