I'd say it had to be Carter Verhaeghe, and in fact it was, but to give him the full credit for yet another heartbreaking playoff goal would obscure the effort of Aleksander Barkov, who deserves the majority of the applause for the late game-winner in the Panthers' series clincher against the Hurricanes. Thanks to this pair, Florida is heading to the Stanley Cup Final for the third straight year. And they've made it this far looking just as tough, nasty, and talented—if not even more so.
Hurricanes fans couldn't have had much hope after their team went down three games to none, but the next four periods of hockey might have shown them, briefly, a glimmer of light. There was the shutout win on Monday to start, and then on Wednesday, Sebastian Aho managed to beat Sergei Bobrovsky twice in the first period for a 2-0 lead. That early advantage wasn't enough, though. Florida hit them with three goals in the middle of the second period, and after Seth Jarvis struck back to tie it for the home team in the third, Verhaeghe silenced the Carolina crowd for the summer.
The winger was a late-blooming rookie on the Lightning roster in their Cup-winning 2019–20 season, and because that team was overstuffed with pricey superstars, the Panthers were able to snag him that offseason. He immediately broke out as a goalscorer, and from his second playoffs with the Panthers on, he's asserted himself as a killer in the clutch. Overall, he's racked up 12 game-winning goals in the playoffs since 2022, five coming in overtime and three clinching series. My personal favorite? Game 7 in Boston in 2023, a goal that you could argue changed the course of history for this once-irrelevant Panther franchise.
And then there's Barkov, also still just 29 years old despite playing twice as many NHL seasons (12) as Verhaeghe. From the very beginning, when he was drafted second overall in 2013, the center from Finland was supposed to lead the Panthers to greatness, and it didn't take long for him to make good on his potential, peaking with a 96-point year in 2018–19 and a 39-goal campaign in 2021–22. In the past three years, as the Panthers made the leap from "dangerous" to "lethal," Barkov's contributions have been less about scoring and more about setting up his teammates. With that role, a few injuries, and his gentlemanly nature—especially compared to some of the other Cats—Barkov is perhaps a little less attention-grabbing. But on Wednesday night, he produced as emphatic an assist as assists get.
With the score 3-3 and under eight minutes to play, Barkov zoomed into the corner of his offensive zone and took the puck behind the net, fighting Dmitry Orlov all the way. He stopped suddenly, allowed Orlov to overskate him, and then moved back toward the goalie. But his work wasn't done. Barkov still had to deke out Eric Robinson, anticipate where Verhaeghe was about to be, and get it across the crease to his partner. That's where the other guy finally came in: Verhaeghe fired a shot fast and high and devastating.
It was a goal befitting a team that has learned through plenty of experience exactly how to win in the playoffs, and under head coach Paul Maurice they've proven nearly impossible to come back against. If you don't get the jump on them early, you're probably not going to get them at all. Viewers of Game 5 saw a perfect example of the way they can close out a win. While a penalty with three minutes left allowed the Canes' power play to make things exciting, at 5-on-5 they were absolutely smothered. Look at the way the Panthers played defense across the full length and breadth of the ice, stopping opportunities before they could even get going and eventually forcing an offside whistle.
Florida boasts sparkling finishers on offense, a sturdy goalie, a ferocious defense, and a predatory instinct in the tensest moments. Whoever comes out of the West would be right to be a little scared. Or a lot.
