The Florida Panthers are one win away from a third consecutive appearance in the Stanley Cup Final.

Florida 6, Carolina 2 (Panthers lead series 3-0)

The Panthers are too much for the Hurricanes to handle, playing a rugged style of wearing down opponents that is tailor made for the playoffs. In Game 3, the Panthers scored five goals in the first 10:37 of the third period to distance themselves from the Hurricanes after the teams were tied at 1 after the second period.

Captain Aleksander Barkov led the way with two goals less than three minutes apart, along with an assist. Over the Panthers' last four games (all wins), Barkov has piled up seven points.

Listed as day-to-day, Sam Reinhart was out for Game 3. Perhaps he is a player that the Panthers could afford to rest given their position in this series. Jesper Boqvist took full advantage of replacing Reinhart in the lineup, scoring a goal while adding two assists with a plus-4 on the Barkov line. After his Game 3 performance, Boqvist seems like a shoo-in to stay in the lineup while Reinhart is out, but his place is less certain once Reinhart returns. The fact that Boqvist can produce like this as an injury replacement is a sign of a championship-caliber team.

Niko Mikkola scored a pair of goals, but he left the game after falling into the boards. Fortunately, coach Paul Maurice expects Mikkola to be fine for Game 4 on Monday. The 6-6 Mikkola is nicknamed the Condor, which has to be one of the best nicknames in hockey.

Brad Marchand scored the Panthers' other goal. He has fit right in on the Panthers during the playoffs, scoring 13 points in 15 games.

Evan Rodrigues and Matthew Tkachuk each picked up two assists. With Reinhart out of the lineup, Rodrigues was moved to the top power play. Rodrigues also has seven points in his last four games – all assists.

Eetu Luostarinen received a five-minute major and game misconduct for a dangerous hit to Jackson Blake during the first period. Should Luostarinen receive supplemental discipline? Blake seemed to escape injury, staying in the game. Luostarinen has made his presence felt for the Panthers during the playoffs, posting 13 points in 15 games while delivering 67 hits (second on the team).

Eetu Luostarinen receives a 5 minute major and a game misconduct for this hit on Jackson Blake 😬 pic.twitter.com/kGixnwituF

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) May 25, 2025

Logan Stankoven scored one of the Hurricanes' goals while assisting on the other, scored by Seth Jarvis.

Coach Rod Brind'Amour elected to start Pyotr Kochetkov in Game 3, but the results clearly weren't any better for Carolina (6 GA on 28 SA). Frederik Andersen was pulled in Game 2 after allowing four goals on 16 shots in two periods. Andersen has allowed nine goals on 36 shots over the first two games of the series after posting a sparkling 1.36 GAA and .937 SV% over the first two rounds. The Canes' performance over the first two games clearly isn't all on Andersen, but a heavy workload isn't something he is used to. When he wasn't sidelined during the regular season, Andersen was splitting starts with Kochetkov. My guess is that Andersen is back in for do-or-die Game 4.

Sean Walker was unable to go for Game 3, which meant that the Canes dressed two rookie defensemen in Alexander Nikishin and Scott Morrow.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch for Game 2. Kotkaniemi picked up an assist in Game 3, giving him four assists in 12 playoff games.

The Hurricanes have now lost 15 consecutive games in the Eastern Conference Final, dating back to 2009. The Canes are simply a very good team that cannot escape their conference during the playoffs (reminds you of another recently eliminated team?) That means the question has to be whether to continue to run it back with the same core or make more drastic changes. If only they traded for a difference maker… oh wait, they tried that earlier this season and bailed on him after 13 games when he wouldn't sign on the dotted line.

The Canes have a sustainable model that should result in more trips to the playoffs, which is worth something. Getting to the playoffs in the first place is half the battle. But analytics aside, does Carolina ever look like THE team to beat in the Eastern Conference?  

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Some Western Conference Final news:

Roope Hintz's status for Game 3 today (Sunday) is still unknown. Hintz was still awaiting test results as of Saturday. Hintz was slashed in the leg by Darnell Nurse during Game 2.

Coach Kris Knoblauch has not ruled out Mattias Ekholm for Games 3 and 4 in Edmonton. Ekholm has not played at all during the playoffs, appearing briefly in just one game since March 26. His return would be a major boost for the Oilers' lineup, as he logs top-pairing minutes.

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Here are two more interesting recent non-playoff related top Frozen Tools searches from the past day or two, and why they might be of interest.

Patrik Laine

As you might have expected, Laine's 2024-25 season came with plenty of highs and lows. Laine was unable to make his Montreal debut until December 3 after spraining his knee during a preseason game. Once he was able to get into the lineup, Laine made an immediate impact, scoring eight power-play goals and averaging nearly four shots per game over his first nine games. Laine eventually finished with 20 goals – 15 on the power play – in just 52 games. Only Jake Guentzel, Leon Draisaitl, and Brayden Point scored more power-play goals than Laine on the season.

However, the production had slowed down to just a single point over his last nine regular-season games. Laine finished the playoffs with an assist in two games, missing the last three games with a broken finger. That leads us to the main issue with rostering Laine, which is injuries. Laine has not reached 60 games in a season over the past four seasons, last playing an 80+ game season in 2018-19. I would expect Laine to become a full-fledged Band-Aid Boy before next season.

Laine has faced a laundry list of injuries throughout his career, which you can review here. He has also battled mental health issues, which he has openly discussed recently. His injury history over the past few seasons doesn't necessarily mean he'll miss games next season, but his past games missed has to factor into projecting future games missed, which ultimately affects his goal total. On top of that, Laine's icetime had taken a dip near the end of the regular season, often showing in the 11-13-minute range.

A further look under the hood shows Laine as a "struggling sheltered forward", according to Natural Stat Trick. That's because Laine has a meager 41.7 CF% while receiving a generous OZ start percentage of 71.7%, which is the highest number on the Habs and the fourth-highest total in the league among players that played at least 40 games. Not one to specialize in defensive responsibility, Laine's trajectory could be that of a power-play specialist who will receive limited icetime otherwise, not likely to play on the Habs' top line unless there is an injury. A lot to keep in mind about Laine if drafting him next season.

William Eklund

I've seen Eklund's name pop up numerous times, so he might be a player of interest for multiple reasons. Most recently, Eklund suffered a wrist injury at a World Hockey Championship pre-tournament game in early May, requiring surgery that need a three-month recovery period. That would allow Eklund to resume his normal training in early August. He should be okay for training camp, although abbreviated offseasons have cut into players' production in the past.

Whether his wrist is a lingering issue heading into 2025-26, Eklund appears to be on a positive trajectory. Just 22 years old, Eklund improved from a 45-point rookie season to a 58-point sophomore season. In addition, Eklund's icetime increased by a minute per game. The challenge for Eklund might be maintaining the right spot on a young team that will include Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, and the second overall pick in the 2025 draft. Regardless, Eklund will be drafted in more than the 3 percent of Yahoo leagues that he was drafted in before the 2024-25 season.

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