The reigning-champion Panthers took another major step in their quest to become the 10th franchise in NHL history with consecutive Stanley Cups as they rallied from a multi-goal deficit to eliminate the Hurricanes and advance to a third straight Final.* Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe connected on the series-clinching goal as they look to win their second and third championship, respectively. Click here to read more notes on Barkov, Verhaeghe and the Panthers, who will be pitted against the Oilers or Stars in the Final.
* Jason Robertson and the Stars endeavor to evade elimination when their Western Conference Final series with Connor McDavid and the Oilers shifts stateside for Game 5 tonight. The contest is available on ESPN and ESPN+ in the U.S. as well as on Sportsnet, TVA Sports and CBC in Canada.
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Barkov, Verhaeghe vault Panthers to third straight Stanley Cup Final
Aleksander Barkov had a highlight-reel assist on the clincher by Carter Verhaeghe as the reigning-champion Panthers overcame a 2-0 deficit and quelled a third-period comeback attempt by the Hurricanes to advance to their third straight Stanley Cup Final. Florida became the ninth franchise in NHL history with three consecutive Final appearances and second over the past 40 years, following Tampa Bay from 2020 to 2022.
* Verhaeghe scored his third career series-clinching goal (also Game 7 of 2023 R1 & Game 6 of 2022 R1), which trails only Artturi Lehkonen and Max Pacioretty (both w/ 4) for the most among active players. Verhaeghe, who won championships with the 2024 Panthers and 2020 Lightning, can become the first player with three Cups before age 30 since Penguins captain Sidney Crosby achieved the feat in 2017.
* Barkov did not touch the Prince of Wales Trophy as he hopes to become the NHL’s first player born and trained outside North America to captain multiple Cup-winning teams. Gabriel Landeskog (Stockholm, Sweden; 2022 COL), Alex Ovechkin (Moscow, Russia; 2018 WSH), Zdeno Chara (Trencin, Slovakia; 2011 BOS) and Nicklas Lidstrom (Vasteras, Sweden; 2008 DET) are the other four who have done so once.
* Barkov can become the League’s first player born overseas to captain multiple Cup-winning teams regardless of where he was trained. Johnny Gottselig (1938 CHI), Charlie Gardiner (1934 CHI) and Dunc Munro (1926 MMR), who all grew up in Canada, are the only other Cup-winning captains that were born outside North America in addition to Barkov, Landeskog, Ovechkin, Chara and Lidstrom.
* Verhaeghe, Barkov and the Panthers joined a rare list of major North American professional sports teams with three straight berths in a championship series or game over the last 30 years, which features a cohort of clubs led by the likes of Nikita Kucherov as well as Tom Brady, Kobe Bryant, Steph Curry, LeBron James, Derek Jeter, Michael Jordan and Patrick Mahomes.
* The Panthers will be pitted against the Oilers or Stars in the Final. Florida could face Edmonton in the second Final rematch over the past 40 years and 11th in NHL history – a list that includes one instance of the same teams meeting in three straight championship series.
* Reigning champions are 7-4 (including Detroit winning & losing during the three-year stretch from 1954 to 1956) in the previous Final rematches. However, the runner-up has won each of the two since the 16-team playoff format was introduced in 1980.
* WATCH HERE for full highlights from Panthers-Hurricanes Game 5.
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STARS FACE ELIMINATION, OILERS CHASE ANOTHER FINAL BERTH IN GAME 5
The Stars are back home for Game 5 as they look to extend their Conference Finals series against the Oilers, who are on the verge of a second straight Stanley Cup Final appearance.
* Dallas is 4-0 in its past four Game 5s when trailing 3-1 in a series dating to the 2007 Conference Quarterfinals and will look to Mikko Rantanen (9-12—21 in 17 GP), its leading scorer this postseason, to help it see another day in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Rantanen (10-7—17 in 13 GP) is one of seven active players with at least 10 career goals in games when facing elimination thanks, in part, to his four-point outing (3-1—4) in Game 7 of the 2025 First Round.
* One of the reasons Edmonton is near another Stanley Cup Final berth is due to the strong play of Stuart Skinner. After starting the postseason with three straight losses, Skinner has ammassed a 5-1 record, posting a .985 save percentage in wins – the highest on record for one postseason – and a 0.39 goals-against average in wins – the lowest in the League’s modern era (since 1943-44) and third-lowest in one playoff year in NHL history (all w/ min. 5 wins). He can join Jonathan Quick (4 in 2014 w/ LAK) as the only goaltenders in NHL history to record multiple series-clinching wins after losing his first three games of that same postseason.
* The Oilers are hoping their offense will also be on display in Game 5 as has been the case for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Connor McDavid throughout the series. Nugent-Hopkins (2-7—9 in 4 GP) can become the second player in NHL history with five consecutive multi-point games to begin a Conference Finals/Semifinals following Wayne Gretzky (5 GP in 1988 CF), while McDavid (42-99—141 in 89 GP) can join ‘The Great One’ on an exclusive list of players with 100 career postseason assists.
