Sport 1 of the Japanese Convention finals went about in addition to it may have for the Florida Panthers. For the Carolina Hurricanes? Not a lot.
Following a 5-2 win, the Panthers carry a 1-0 benefit into Sport 2 (8 p.m. ET, TNT) on Thursday evening.
Will the Hurricanes punch again earlier than the sequence heads to South Florida? Which gamers shall be most important to every workforce’s success? Listed below are key gamers, matchup notes and stats to know from ESPN Analysis forward of Sport 2.
Extra: Sport 1 recap | Grades
Matchup notes
Florida Panthers at Carolina Hurricanes
Sport 2 | 8 p.m. ET | TNT
With the Panthers up 1-0, they’re now -250 favorites to win the Japanese Convention finals, whereas the Hurricanes are +200, per ESPN BET. The Panthers now have the shortest odds to win the Stanley Cup, at +160, whereas the Canes have the longest, at +500.
The Panthers have scored 38 targets on the highway this postseason, tied with the 2022 Avalanche for probably the most by way of a workforce’s first eight highway video games of a single postseason. They’re outscoring opponents 17-4 on the highway over their final three highway contests. The 17 targets are their most in a three-game span on the highway in a single postseason in franchise historical past
The Sport 1 defeat was the Hurricanes’ thirteenth straight loss within the convention finals, going again to 2009. This extends the longest streak in NHL historical past for losses within the spherical earlier than Stanley Cup Last; the subsequent highest was the Toronto Maple Leafs with 10 straight losses between 1954-56.
Aaron Ekblad’s aim in Sport 1 provides the Panthers 12 from their defensemen this postseason. That’s 4 greater than every other workforce, and ties the franchise document for many in a single playoff run (each 2023 and 2024).
With aim No. 7 of the postseason, Sam Bennett turned the third Panther to attain seven or extra targets in consecutive playoff runs, becoming a member of Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart (who each completed it in 2023 and 2024).
The Hurricanes’ penalty kill was a power main into the convention finals — they allowed two power-play targets on 30 possibilities. That wasn’t the case in Sport 1, as they allowed two targets on three possibilities.
Sebastian Aho joined a powerful listing along with his Sport 1 aim: He’s now tied for probably the most targets in series-opening video games in Whalers/Hurricanes historical past (with 5). The others on the listing are Ray Whitney, Andrei Svechnikov and his head coach, Rod Brind’Amour.
Present scoring leaders
GP: 11 | G: 4 | A: 8
GP: 13 | G: 4 | A: 9
