Panthers Lose to Canes After Conceding in Final Seconds, Tkachuk and Forsling Leave Game With Injury

Sebastain Aho scored the only goal of the game with 19 seconds left in regulation to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 1-0 win over the Florida Panthers on Thursday night in Raleigh.

Hurricanes goalie Pyotr Kochetkov had 44 saves, picking up his third shutout of the season. 

Panthers netminder Sergei Bobrovsky saved 28 of 29 shots in what was his first loss in his past eight starts.

In the win, the Hurricanes were able to snap the Panthers six-game win streak and 11-game road win streak.

Florida drops to 37-16-4 with the loss, trailing Boston by one point for first place in the Eastern Conference. Carolina improved to 34-17-5 with the victory. 

“It came down to 19 seconds. That’s a playoff game, there’s no doubt about it,”  Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad said. “Those are two teams colliding that play almost the exact same way. There’s almost no room out there for anybody… It was a hard fought game.”

The Panthers thought they took the late lead with 3:21 to go when Eetu Luostarinen scored after redirecting Niko Mikkola’s pass, one-handed, into the goal. Carolina would win a successful coach’s challenge — which determined the play was offside.

Seconds before Aho’s game-winner, Aaron Ekblad nearly put the Panthers in the driver’s seat, but he hit the post with his shot from the slot.

“I think it was a good game by both teams,” Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said. “Obviously we know how they play, they know how we play… There’s been a couple of those games already against them.”

Despite losing, the biggest concern for the Panthers on Thursday was regarding the health of two of their top players who were injured in Carolina. Forward Matthew Tkachuk and defenseman Gustav Forsling both left the game in the first period and did not return after getting banged up.

Tkachuk took a hard hit from Andrei Svechnikov in the upper-body while Forsling left the game also left the game with an undisclosed injury. Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said that both players are probably day-to-day and will be reevaluated on Friday when the team returns to South Florida. 

“I don’t think it’s too significant,” Maurice said postgame. “We’re always careful with anything like that night. 

Following this quick one-game road trip, the Panthers will be back on home ice Saturday to face the Washington Capitals at Amerant Bank Arena Sunrise.