Hurricanes lay smackdown on nemesis Panthers, hit milestones in a thunderous win

RALEIGH

No team has frustrated the Carolina Hurricanes quite like the Florida Panthers the past few years.

Regular season, Stanley Cup playoffs, it didn’t matter. The Panthers have been beating up on the Canes, staging comebacks, winning games late and generally having their way.

And winning Stanley Cups. The Panthers have won the past two, topping the Canes in the Eastern Conference final last season on their way to again lifting the Cup.

But not Friday.

The Canes laid a 9-1 beating on the Panthers in a game that felt as much like a hockey exorcism as a 60-minute victory.

By the final minutes, the Panthers looked like beaten fighters waiting for the bell to ring. The Canes, with winger Nikolaj Ehlers getting his sixth career hat trick on a four-point night, ignited for six goals in the final period as the Lenovo Center stayed loud until the end.

“So much was made of the last couple of games (with Florida) and I get it,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “So, yeah, it’s nice not to have to talk about that anymore.

“It’s been a long time coming against this team. We just never seem to break through with goals. Tonight, we finally did.”

Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky has been a wall at times against the Canes, especially in the playoffs. He was sharp early Friday, denying Jordan Staal, Ehlers, Sebastian Aho and Jordan Martinook on breakaways before the third-period deluge. Bobrovsky had never allowed more than eight goals in a game — before Friday.

By game’s end, the Canes’ Andrei Svechnikov had earned his 400th career point. Taylor Hall scored twice and Mark Jankowski had a goal and two assists — one of five players in the lineup with two helpers.

The Hurricanes had nine players notch two or more points for the first time since Oct. 19, 1985, when the then-Hartford Whalers had Ron Francis in the lineup.

Granted, the Panthers were missing firebrand forward Brad Marchand, the perpetual protagonist, and defenseman Seth Jones, both out with injuries. They have not had captain Aleksander Barkov and forward Matthew Tkachuk in the lineup, although Tkachuk is said to be close to a return.

Ehlers had the hats flying onto the ice at 13:03 of the third period. His third goal came after a run of power-play scores by Alexander Nikishin, Svechnikov, Ehlers and Hall.

Florida, in contrast, was 0-for-5 on the power play. The Canes’ penalty killers got the hard work done and made things easier for goalie Brandon Bussi, who picked up his 17th win of the season in an 15-save game,

Nikishin, becoming a bigger threat on the back end, bombed in a shot timed at 92.3 mph. Another heavy Nikishin shot, in the second period, resulted in a rebound that Jankowski batted past Bobrovsky for a 2-1 lead.

“The Jankowski goal was big,” Brind’Amour said. “We were playing so well and that kind of broke the ice.”

Not long after the Jankowski goal came what Brind’Amour called the turning point: a huge hit by Canes defenseman Sean Walker, who hammered forward Jesper Boqvist along the boards. Walker wound up dropping the gloves and going at it with Donovan Sebrango as both incurred 10-minute fighting majors — Walker’s first in the NHL — and Sebrango also received a roughing penalty.

“It was a hard, clean hit,” Brind’Amour said. “They come in and do what they’re going to do, and we capitalized on that power play. That’s kind of where the game might have turned in our favor.”

Brind’Amour moved Ehlers, called “Fly” by his teammates, to Staal’s line opposite Martinook, and the new combination clicked nicely.

“It was great,” Ehlers said of playing on the line. “The way that they battle and play the game, win pucks back, I knew I would be able to get more space out there, which is something I’ve been looking for.”

Ehlers’ first goal, which gave the Canes a 1-0 lead in the opening period, came after Staal won a puck battle along the boards. Staal found Ehlers open in the slot for the shot with a no-look pass — “An incredible play,” Ehlers said.

After Ehlers’ third goal, after all the hats were cleared off the ice, Svechnikov perched one of the caps on Ehlers’ helmet. Both got a laugh out of it.

“It was a lot of fun,” Ehlers said.

Against the Florida Panthers. For a change.