“What I take from it is we won three, but it doesn’t take three to win a series,” Panthers star winger Matthew Tkachuk said. “That’s the simplest answer I’ve got. We need one more, and it’s the hardest one to win.”

Clamping down on defense and erupting on offense in the third period, the Panthers pulled away for a 6-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final. The win gave Florida a 3-0 series lead and a chance to clinch a second straight Stanley Cup Final appearance on home ice.

The Panthers already were without star forward Sam Reinhart after a nasty Game 2 hit by Carolina’s Sebastian Aho. That wasn’t forgotten. After taking care of business on the scoreboard, Matthew Tkachuk took care of business with Aho, taunting and pushing and trying to fight him in a manner Aho didn’t want and his Carolina teammates didn’t rush.

Here are three player prop bets for Florida vs. Carolina in Game 3 of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs Eastern Conference Final

The Hurricanes and Panthers are ready to collide in an NHL Eastern Conference finals rematch.Back in 2023, Florida defeated Carolina in the Eastern Conference finals behind multiple clutch performances from Matthew Tkachuk.

“After you see it up close, you realize there’s a reason for it,” said forward Brad Marchand, who spent years trying to solve Bobrovsky as an opponent. “He competes so hard every day. He’s probably the most dedicated player that I’ve ever played with.

Taylor Hall of the Carolina Hurricanes delivers strong admission about the Eastern Conference Final in the 2025 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs against Brad Marchand’s Florida Panthers.

The Panthers look unstoppable in their third consecutive Eastern Conference Final after a 5-0 shellacking of the Hurricanes in Game 2.