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The Florida Panthers continued their impressive playoff run early Friday morning, outlasting the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 in quadruple overtime despite having an earlier overtime goal overturned in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final.
Matthew Tkachuk scored with 12.7 seconds left in the fourth overtime, his second OT goal this postseason, ending the sixth-longest game in NHL history.
“Probably my favorite one so far in my life,” Tkachuk said. “Big to not let it go to five overtimes there.”
Tkachuk was set up by Sam Bennett, whose third-period roughing penalty allowed the Hurricanes to tie the game.
The 92-point Panthers won the opener on the road for the second series in a row after upsetting the No. 1 overall Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first two rounds.
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Ryan Lomberg’s goal at 2:35 of the first overtime was disallowed because of goaltender interference by Colin White on Frederik Andersen and the Panthers stayed alive when Seth Jarvis later hit the post.
Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 63 saves and Andersen had 57.
“It kind of becomes a game of attrition,” Bobrovsky said. “You just try to be patient and wait for the moment for the shot. One shot at a time.”
The Hurricanes, who finished second in the league with 113 points, lost a series opener for the first time this postseason.
“It’s the worst way to lose, there’s no way around it,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We’ll regroup and come back at it the next one. I mean, it’s just one game.”
Game 2 is Saturday night in Raleigh, North Carolina.
What did the NHL say about the disallowed goal?
“Video review determined Florida’s Colin White had a significant presence in the crease and made incidental contact with goaltender Frederik Andersen that impaired his ability to play his position prior to Ryan Lomberg’s goal. The decision was made in accordance with Rule 69.1, which states in part, ‘Goals should be disallowed only if: (1) an attacking player, either by his positioning or by contact, impairs the goalkeeper’s ability to move freely within his crease or defend his goal.’ “
What happened in regulation?
Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe scored the second-period goals that gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead after Jarvis’ first-period goal, but linemate Anthony Duclair did the work that made them possible.
He broke up a Hurricanes rush and eventually got the puck back, carried it into the Carolina zone, circled and fed a perfect pass to Barkov, who beat Andersen.
On the second goal, he passed to himself off the back of the net and a centering feed bounced off a Hurricanes player to Verhaeghe, who skated to the faceoff circle and wristed a shot past Andersen.
The Hurricanes dominated the third period, outshooting Florida 14-2 and getting the tying goal by Stefan Noesen on the power play. Bobrovsky was sharp, though, stopping a breakaway by Martin Necas.
Paul Maurice furious about penalty call
Panthers coach Paul Maurice was animated on the bench after the Hurricanes were given a 5-on-3 power play late in the first period that led to Carolina’s first goal.
Marc Staal was already in the penalty box for delay of game when Aaron Ekblad was called for cross-checking Noesen. It wasn’t much of a cross-check and Noesen seemed to go down easily.
Jarvis scored on the power play four seconds after Staal’s penalty ended and Maurice was still complaining as he went to the dressing room for intermission.
During the second period, with Florida about to go on a power play, he said during a TNT on-ice interview, “We’re about to get a 5-on-3 here.”
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