SUNRISE, Fla. — The Carolina Hurricanes can at least put the Eastern Conference final futility talk to bed. The task ahead, however, is still a difficult one.
The Hurricanes avoided being swept and ended their 15-game losing streak in the third round of the playoffs dating back to 2009, getting a goal from Logan Stakoven, two empty-netters and a 20-save shutout by Frederik Andersen in a 3-0 win over the Panthers on Monday in Sunrise. Florida still leads the series 3-1, but Carolina has hope.
“We know we have a large, huge hill to climb here, and we’ve got a great team on the other side that is going to come back with a better effort, and we know that,” said Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal, who had the second empty-net goal. “It’s a great challenge, and we’re going to take it one day, one shift, one faceoff at a time.”
The Hurricanes finally broke through by relying on their bread and butter: stout defense, an elite penalty kill and solid goaltending from Frederik Andersen. But they added a pinch of rookie to the recipe.
With the game tied 0-0 just past the midway point of regulation, the Hurricanes got their first lead of the series when two of their rookies connected for a goal in the second period.
Defenseman Alexander Nikishin, playing just his third career NHL game, retrieved a puck in the neutral zone and backhanded a no-look pass up the left wing to send Logan Stankoven in alone. Stankoven shot from just past the left faceoff dot over the short-side shoulder of Sergei Bobrovsky (25 saves) at 10:45 of the middle frame for his fifth goal of the postseason to put Carolina ahead 1-0.
“The play happened so fast, and a great, great feed by him to make that play off the turnover,” Stankoven said of the assist from Nikishin. “It all starts with him, so great feed by him.
It was the first career point for Nikishin, who continues to look better and better with each shift.
“It looks like he’s unfazed,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said of Nikishin. “I don’t know. I can’t really tell you, but he’s doing a great job for us, obviously.”
With defensemen Jalen Chatfield and Sean Walker out with injuries, Brind’Amour has had to insert both Nikishin and Scott Morrow on defense. On Monday, he relied on the 23-year-old Russian, playing him nearly 19 minutes.
“It’s a tough time of the year to come in as a rookie and play minutes like that,” Jaccob Slavin, who logged a game-high 28 minutes, said of the two rookies. “So it’s huge.”
Nikishin was even pressed into action on the penalty kill, but it was Slavin bearing much of the load, playing more than six shorthanded minutes as Carolina went 4 for 4 on the PK.
“I just think there was a level of desperation there on the kill,” Brind’Amour said. “A lot of it, there’s breakdowns, all of a sudden, guys are flying in there trying to just get in the way, which is what you have to do.”
The Panthers finished with four shots on the power play, three of which came on their two third period opportunities. For the second straight game, Carolina snuffed out them all and came out stronger after each kill.
“You definitely can gain some momentum off the kills, and obviously we had some big ones in the big moments in the game,” said center Sebastian Aho, who scored the first of Carolina’s two empty-net goals.
And when there were breakdowns, Andersen was there to clean them up. After being pulled in Game 2 and on the bench in favor of Pyotr Kochetkov in Game 3, Andersen returned to the pipes and recorded his second shutout of the postseason.
“Every time you get a win, you get to extend your season,” Andersen said. “Obviously, we’re up against the wall right now. So it’s an extension of one game for now, and we’ll try to do it again.”
To do that, the Hurricanes will need to replicate their effort from Game 4. Carolina outshot the Panthers 28-20 and dominated play at 5-on-5, where the Hurricanes had a 48-29 shot attempt advantage, a 24-9 edge in scoring chances and a whopping 10-2 lead in high-danger chances.
The Hurricanes know a repeat performance is easier said than done.
“This is not even a blip on the radar for them is how they’re looking at it,” Brind’Amour said of the Panthers. “But we have to keep the gas down or keep the hammer down and give us a chance again the next game.”
Notes: Jackson Blake was called for two penalties in the first period, the first time in his professional career he’s been called for multiple penalties in one period. … Aho finished with seven shots on goal. … Mark Jankowski had a third period goal taken off the board when a challenge by Florida determined Mark Robinson was offside. … Slavin had a game-high four blocks.
