Our Clients:

Field Level Media - Professional sports content solutions | FLM

Nov 10, 2023 10:05 pm

In Eastern finals rematch, Panthers again beat Hurricanes

Rookie defenseman Uvis Balinskis scored his first NHL goal, leading the host Florida Panthers to a 5-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night in Sunrise.

It was the teams’ first meeting since the Panthers swept the Hurricanes in last season’s Eastern Conference finals.

Balinskis, a native of Latvia playing his 11th game, helped the Panthers win their third straight with his first career point.

Matthew Tkachuk, Carter Verhaeghe and Aleksander Barkov had one goal and one assist each for the Panthers. Kevin Stenlund also scored, Sam Reinhart added two assists and Sergei Bobrovsky came up with 28 saves.

Carolina, which had its two-game win streak snapped, got one goal each from Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Sebastian Aho. Antti Raanta made 30 saves and Jordan Martinhook added two assists.

The Hurricanes opened the scoring just 80 seconds in as Bobrovsky stopped shots by Martinhook and Jesper Fast before Kotkaniemi scored on a rebound.

Florida tied it less than two minutes later. Anton Lundell started the sequence by winning a battle for the puck. Verhaeghe then fed Tkachuk, who stickhandled past Raanta for an impressive goal.

Tkachuk helped give the Panthers the lead for good as his perfect pass led to Balinskis’ goal from the doorstep with 1:07 left in the first period.

The teams traded second-period goals.

Barkov scored on a rebound off a shot by Evan Rodrigues at 7:08.

Late in the period, Carolina cut its deficit to 3-2 on Aho’s rebound goal, with Martinhook and Brady Skjei picking up the assists.

The Panthers scored a key goal with 6:42 left in the third to extend their lead to 4-2. After winning a faceoff, Gustav Forsling’s shot from the point was deflected in by Verhaeghe.

Stenlund put the game away with an empty-net goal with 3:42 left.

–Field Level Media

You may also like

Sam Reinhart
Dec 23, 2024 2:33 am

Panthers rolling, aim to sweep home-and-home vs. Lightning

After putting to rest the season’s worst spell of play last month, the Florida Panthers appear to be back on pace in the Atlantic Division. The Stanley Cup champions will…

boston bruins
Dec 23, 2024 2:08 am

Facing Caps, Bruins out to enter holiday on season-best run

The Boston Bruins look to enter the holidays with their first five-game unbeaten streak of the season as they host the Washington Capitals on Monday night. The game marks Boston’s…

Hischier
Dec 23, 2024 2:04 am

Adept at limiting shots, Devils out to keep Rangers down

Three weeks ago, the New Jersey Devils saw their fans make their presence loudly felt at Madison Square Garden when they scored the first four goals and rolled to a…

More News News

Sam Reinhart
Dec 23, 2024 2:33 am

Panthers rolling, aim to sweep home-and-home vs. Lightning

After putting to rest the season’s worst spell of play last month, the Florida Panthers appear to be back on pace in the Atlantic Division. The Stanley Cup champions will…

boston bruins
Dec 23, 2024 2:08 am

Facing Caps, Bruins out to enter holiday on season-best run

Hischier
Dec 23, 2024 2:04 am

Adept at limiting shots, Devils out to keep Rangers down

Houston Rockets
Dec 23, 2024 1:57 am

Rockets look to even season series with struggling Hornets

Duke Miles
Dec 23, 2024 12:40 am

Top 25 roundup: No. 14 Oklahoma cruises, improves to 12-0

Read all
fb-post
advertisment
title-icon

Upcoming events

See all odds