2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs Preview: Carolina Hurricanes vs. Florida Panthers

2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs Preview: Carolina Hurricanes vs. Florida Panthers

For the eighth year in a row, the Eastern Conference Final features a team from either Florida or the Carolinas. The 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs have been anything but predictable thus far. Now, we get a rematch of the ECF two years ago, where the Florida Panthers showed the world who they are. They shocked everyone with a four-game sweep of Carolina as an #8 seed in the East.

On one hand, the Hurricanes have had ample time to rest after handling the Caps in five games. For the Cats, however, they are back into the fire after a grueling seven-game series against the Maple Leafs.

It’s been only two days since their 6-1 demolition job up in Toronto. This series will be a great piece of evidence toward the debate of getting rest in the playoffs. Does nursing your wounds with five days of rest help, or just staying in the fight and keeping things going?

Game	Day	Date	Opponent	Time	Venue	Networks
Game 1	Tuesday	May 20	Florida	8 p.m.	Lenovo Center	TNT, truTV, Max, SN, CBC, TVAS,
Game 2	Thursday	May 22	Florida	8 p.m.	Lenovo Center	TNT, truTV, Max, SN, CBC, TVAS,
Game 3	Saturday	May 24	at Florida	8 p.m.	Amerant Bank Arena	TNT, truTV, Max, SN, CBC, TVAS
Game 4	Monday	May 26	at Florida	8 p.m.	Amerant Bank Arena	TNT, truTV, Max, SN, CBC, TVAS
Game 5*	Wednesday	May 28	Florida	8 p.m.	Lenovo Center	TNT, truTV, Max, SN, CBC, TVAS
Game 6*	Friday	May 30	at Florida	8 p.m.	Amerant Bank Arena	TNT, truTV, Max, SN, CBC, TVAS
Game 7*	Sunday	June 1	Florida	8 p.m.	Lenovo Center	TNT, truTV, Max, SN, CBC, TVAS

Why Florida Wins:

For three years now, the Panthers have shown everyone this time of year why it’s foolish to bet against them. Bill Zito has constructed a buzzsaw with Paul Maurice leading the charge. They are hard to play against for so many reasons.

For starters, it is embracing the sandpaper. On all four lines and three pairings, every skater does not shy away from throwing the body around. That lends itself to an effective and annoying back check, which wears opponents down as each game goes on. Their depth is also very impressive and battle-tested. Picking up Brad Marchand for what could be pennies on the dollar is already paying itself off. He was the Maple Leaf killer once again.

While he’s been inconsistent, future Hall of Fame goalie Sergei Bobrovsky always turns his game up with chips on the table. He was great in Game Seven against Toronto.

Against Carolina two years ago, he was a game breaker and a sweep was not possible without him. He is very reminiscent of the entire team in the sense that he may not wow you in the regular season.

But after Game 82, he does more than enough to get the job done. It’s also hardly a surprise that this team is full of road warriors. They can easily neutralize any Carolina home-ice advantage with their physical and suffocating style of play.

As we saw in 2023, Florida can also beat Carolina at their own game. They have no problem playing the game along the wall and blocking shots. Being patient and striking at the right moment is in their DNA.

They’ve got the eye of the tiger for a reason. History also says that the team that keeps playing without much rest always has an advantage in the playoffs over teams with a long layoff.

Why Carolina Wins:

For starters, there is no time like the present. The 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs might be the final uncontested run for Carolina. Eventually, a team like the Devils or Rangers will figure it out and put up a fight. The Capitals had a nice year but had flaws that the Canes exploited. They can’t keep getting free passes to the second and third rounds forever.

The locker room knows the significance of where they are and how they gotta make the most of it. Before winning, teams learn how to lose first. They’ve had so many bites at the apple, so one would imagine they are due to break through at some point.

Up to now, it’s been all according to plan for them. Their style of play has put both the Devils and Capitals in a sleeper hold. Carolina’s now had five days to rest at home and rally the troops. Everyone knows that their building is gonna be as loud as it gets tonight. Could the crowd noise and support help push them over the line? If Florida is more banged up than people know, will they be able to grind them down and make them pay?

Despite giving Bob his praise earlier, Freddie Andersen has been the better goalie so far. He leads all tenders in the playoffs in goals against average and save percentage. His team in front of them keeps opponents to the outside and mostly lets low danger chances get through to him.

The Panthers are not Jersey or Washington, but it’s been an encouraging start so far. While maybe not as physical, the Canes are still deep, and both Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov have led the way.

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The Pick:

Florida isn’t catching anyone by surprise, so this probably won’t be a sweep. However, I just cannot see Carolina beating them four times. The defending champs are just too good and too ready for this moment to lose focus and slip up. It could still be a good series, however.

Panthers in 6.

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