Tkachuk Does It Again: Florida In Stanley Cup Final

Good morning and happy Thursday, May 25.

You guys and girls called it again, with 58.9% of yesterday’s poll participants predicting a Panthers victory last night! Maybe we need to start a Hockey Recap betting syndicate. 🤔

Today’s lineup:

• 🐀 Tkachuk scores late to send Panthers to the Finals

• ✌️ Jamie Benn is suspended two games

• 🏥 Jaccob Slavin injured

• 👇 And a lot more

The Florida Panthers were the last ones this season’s NHL playoff pool and the first qualifier for the Stanley Cup Final.

The Panthers completed their unlikely trek into the NHL championship series Wednesday by defeating the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 on Matthew Tkachuk’s goal with 4.9 seconds left in regulation in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final.

The 4-0 sweep puts Florida in the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1996.

Florida became the third team to eliminate three of the NHL’s top four playoff qualifiers in the first three rounds and the third team in the modern era (since 1943-44) to win three or more series after entering the postseason as the league’s lowest-seeded team.

When Tkachuk scored, fans hurled plastic rats on the ice as a salute to a storyline from the 1996 season when a rat’s visit to the Panthers’ dressing room spawned this unusual tradition.

Coach Paul Maurice’s Panthers will meet either the Vegas Golden Knights or Dallas Stars in the Final. The Golden Knights lead the best-of-seven Western Conference Final.

The Panthers were only in a playoff spot 54 of 190 days (28%) in the 2022-23 regular-season.

Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky continued to be the team’s designated hero with 36 stops in the clinching game. The Panthers only tallied 10 goals in the series, but that didn’t matter because Bobrovsky made 174 saves on 180 shots on goal for a .967 save percentage.

It’s hard to remember that Bobrovsky wasn’t even the team’s starter at the beginning of the playoffs.

But Bobrovsky has to share hero status with Tkachuk who came to the team in an offseason trade with the Calgary Flames.

Tkachuk has factored in the game-winning goal eight times in this playoff run. Only five players in NHL history have done it more times in a postseason run, and two of them are named Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.

No one was surprised when it was Tkachuk netting the game-winner in dramatic fashion.

✌️ Stars’ Jamie Benn suspended two games for cross-checking Mark Stone. Down 3-0 late in the first period of game 3 Tuesday, Jamie Benn’s emotions got the best of him when he got tangled up in the neutral zone with Vegas’ Mark Stone and decided to finish the play with a vicious cross-check to Stone’s jaw. Benn was immediately penalized on the play and after some deliberation between the officials assessed a 5-minute major and game misconduct. The NHL Department of Player Safety announced Benn’s two-game suspension yesterday. When asked if he would have done anything differently, Benn offered this explanation…

As of this morning, who leads this Stanley Cup playoffs in goals?

• How Sergei Bobrovsky turned a mediocre season into an outstanding playoff run

• Hurricanes' Jaccob Slavin out of Game 4 with upper-body injury

• Oettinger's resilience needed for Stars to avoid elimination in Game 4

• The power of positive coaching and its impact on the Stanley Cup playoffs

• NHL unveils 2022-23 GM of the year finalists

• Ten potential candidates for Flames head coaching job, and one long-shot

• Buffalo Sabres re-sign captain Kyle Okposo to 1-year, $2.5M contract

• Three ideas for the Canucks to free cap space and gather assets

• Bettman receives Sports Business Journal Lifetime Achievement Award

• NHL, NHLPA discussing more than $1M salary cap increase for next season

• Jamie Rice’s “box game” hockey drill

• How Joe Pavelski likes to warm up in his pregame skate

TRIVIA ANSWER

Although the Oilers were eliminated last round, Leon Draisaitl’s 13 goals still lead this Stanley Cup playoffs.