SUNRISE, Fla. — The Carolina Hurricanes seemed to have a glimmer of hope. They entered the third period of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final tied, having won their first period of the series.
The final 20 minutes stamped out that hope and exposed the Hurricanes’ fragile state.
The Panthers scored five times in just over nine minutes to turn a tight game into a 6-2 route and put the Hurricanes on the brink of again being swept in the third round of the playoffs.
“Just off the rails and bad plays, and they made us pay,” Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho said. “And then it’s game over.”
The barrage started like many of the Hurricanes’ problems have materialized in this series — with a turnover.
Taylor Hall’s no-look pass in the neutral zone was intercepted, and Jesper Boqvist — only in the lineup because Sam Reinhart was injured in Game 2 — caught Carolina defenseman Dmitry Orlov flatfooted and danced around him before scoring five-hole on Pyotr Kochetkov (22 saves) 89 seconds into the third period for a 2-1 Florida lead.
It unraveled from there. Niko Mikkola scored his second of the night, followed by the first of two by Aleksander Barkov 29 seconds later.
Barkov tallied again just over 2½ minutes later, and Brad Marchand poured salt in the wound with a 2-on-1 goal 66 seconds after that.
“We’re playing better, and then just to turn pucks over,” said bewildered Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour. “Like, it’s not what we do, and no one does that. And I think that just everyone was just pretty surprised.
“You can’t do that, and you can’t do it anytime. Preseason game, it’s gonna cost you, but against that team, and you turn over for an odd-man rush, forget it. And we know that. And that was really, I think, demoralizing.”
It was a shocking turn after Carolina entered the second intermission with its first momentum of the series.
Down 1-0 on a first period goal by Mikkola, the Hurricanes tied the game with a power play goal.
With Gustav Forsling in the box for delay of game and Carolina’s second unit on the ice, Kotkaniemi set up Brent Burns for a one-timer that Sergei Bobrovsky (23 saves) stopped. Logan Stankoven jumped on the rebound and scored his fourth of the postseason to tie the game.
“We got our power play goal there, and we tied the game,” Aho said. “And we got our momentum and our push there.”
There was a sense that the Hurricanes had finally found their footing in a series of drubbings.
Instead, the biggest gut punch of all followed.
“I thought the game was right there for us through two periods,” Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal said. “And a quick turnover, and they made us pay. And then they got rolling. It’s a tough team to stop when they get the juices flowing. And we’re playing turnover city there, and they’re going to make you pay.”
The Hurricanes survived an early onslaught by the Panthers in the first 12 minutes, but a fortunate bounce again gave Florida the game’s first goal.
Stankoven’s attempt to chip the puck up the ice in the neutral zone was stolen by Evan Rodrigues, who passed to Barkov. Barkov’s centering pass slid past several players to Mikkola on the opposite side.
Mikkola tried a centering pass of his own, and the puck hit Carolina defenseman Dmitry Orlov’s skate and bounced in the net for a 1-0 Florida lead at 12:07 of the opening period.
It was the first of four goals Florida scored with Orlov on the ice.
“We can’t put it on him, but some of those mistakes, you’re not winning at this time of year when you make mistakes like that,” Brind’Amour said.
Carolina had a chance to answer at the end of the first period when Florida center Eetu Luostarinen was ejected and received a five-minute major for boarding Carolina winger Jackson Blake.
But the Hurricanes’ power play sputtered, never threatening until the man advantage was cut short with 8 seconds left when Kotkaniemi was called for cross-checking at 1:51 of the middle frame.
“Obviously, you’d like to score a goal on the five-minute major,” Aho said. “But at the same time, that wasn’t the game.
The Hurricanes’ special teams actually came out on top, getting the Stankoven goal on their next power play opportunity to tie the game, another in mop-up time and killing all four of Florida’s opportunities after allowing four goals on five chances in the series’ first two games.
The Seth Jarvis power play goal with just under nine minutes remaining made Carolina 2 for 4 on the night, but by then, the Hurricanes’ fate had already been sealed.
“We’re still alive,” Aho said. “(We have to) take whatever we’ve got and push it all in the next game and see where it goes.”
Staal was succinct with his response.
“They’ve got to win four.”
Notes: Defensemen Jalen Chatfield and Sean Walker missed the game with injuries. Rookies Scott Morrow and Alexander Nikishin played in their place. … Orlov and Hall were both minus 4. … Andrei Svechnikov was held without a shot on goal and limited to just two shot attempts. … Stankoven finished with two points.
