Florida Panthers win Game 1, defeat Hurricanes in quadruple OT

The Eastern Conference Finals finally got underway tonight in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Carolina Hurricanes played host to the Florida Panthers in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs  third round. 

After both sides not playing for almost a week, they ended tonight the way they finished their respective second round series, in overtime. Well, kind of… this one went to the dying seconds of quadruple overtime. 

The Panthers defeated the Hurricanes 3-2, off of Matthew Tkachuk’s heroic quadruple OT winner. 

Hours before the OT marathon, Carolina got the start they needed. The hometown Canes broke the deadlock after a nearly scoreless first period. 

Towards the end of the first, the Canes went to a 5-on-3 power play. The Panthers successfully killed off the first of two penalties, however by the time Marc Staal reached the defensive zone from the penalty box, Seth Jarvis walked into a clapper from the slot – giving the Hurricanes a one goal lead with 12 seconds remaining in the period. 

The second period was similar to the first in terms of the score line. With the Canes leading 1-0, nobody could get the puck past Sergei Bobrovksy or Frederik Andersen for most of the frame. 

At the 15:28 mark of the second, the Panthers got back into the game courtesy of their captain. 

Anthony Duclair carried the puck up the boards into  the zone, spun off the pressure and then fed the puck across the ice to Sasha Barkov. Barkov took one step into open space before ripping a shot past the Hurricanes goalie to tie the game at 1-1. 

A few minutes later, the Barkov line got on the board again. 

Carter Verhaeghe came out of the corner with the puck after his linemates worked the puck down low behind the net. Verhaeghe had free real estate in the shooting lane and didn’t let his opportunity go to waste, slipping a shot past Andersen to give the Panthers their first lead of the game. 

With the Panthers carrying a lead heading into the third, Carolina did not back down. 

The final frame of regulation was dominated by the home team with the Canes out shotting the Cats 14-2. Their constant pressure had the Panthers on their heels.

A big story for Carolina tonight was their superior play on special teams. After grabbing their first goal of the game on the man advantage, Carolina got their second just minutes into the third. 

Stefan Nosek found himself on the receiving end of a beautiful tic-tac-toe play that was setup by Martin Necas and Seth Jarvis. Nosek roofed the puck over Bobrovsky for Carolina’s second PPG of the game – tying it at 2-2. 

Once again tied, the two teams couldn’t break each other for the remainder of regulation. This one would head to over time. 

In the extra frame, Florida looked to have won the game off a Ryan Lomberg goal, however after the play was reviewed they determined that Colin White made contact with Frederik Andersen in the crease, and the goal was called back. 

Still 2-2, both teams had a chance on the power play to end the game in OT. For the Panthers, they couldn’t muster anything on their third power play of the night. For Carolina, they had their high danger chances, including a shot ringing off the post. 

80 minutes after puck drop we were still without a winner, double OT was needed. 

As you’d expect, the teams tightened up in the second OT. Not as many guys jumping up into the play, not too many risky moves… It was patient hockey. 

After 100 minutes with no winner, they went to triple overtime in Raleigh. 

If two overtime’s weren’t enough time to score, apparently three wasn’t either. After an 8 pm ET puck drop, Game 1 completed two full 60 minutes frames without a winner. A quadruple overtime would be needed, starting just after 1:20 am.  

In OT number 4, the goalies did what they did all game, stood on their head. It was an absolute goaltending duel between Andersen and Bobrovksy.

In what was the sixth longest game in NHL history, the teams were seconds away from heading back into the dressing room to gear up for a fifth over time. 

Matthew Tkachuk didn’t let that happen.

With 13 seconds remaining in the fourth over time, Tkachuk squeezed a tight angle shot over Andersen, ending the game just shy of 2 am et. 

The Panthers take this draining Game 1 and a 1-0 series lead.