The Carolina Hurricanes officially have their backs up against the wall, losing yet another game in the Eastern Conference Final (making it 15 straight dating back to 2009).
Their 6-2 defeat against the Florida Panthers was marked by a complete collapse in the third period, in which they allowed five goals, several of them in quick succession. The Panthers are now a single victory away from their third consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Final. At the same time, the Hurricanes now face the herculean task of having to win four straight games to avoid elimination.
Carolina Hurricanes Suffer a Third-Period Collapse
Things didn’t start out ideally for the Hurricanes, who were looking to reverse the script on the Panthers following their 5-0 defeat in Game 2. The Panthers struck first on the scoresheet after Niko Mikkola’s centering pass deflected off the skate of defenseman Dmitry Orlov and past goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov, who was making his second start of the postseason.
Carolina then managed to knot the score at 1-1 after Logan Stankoven broke Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky’s shutout streak by banging home a loose puck at the side of the net in the second period. Both teams headed to the third period deadlocked.
But the Panthers soon opened the floodgates, scoring five goals in a matter of just over 10 minutes of game time. Jesper Boqvist, Mikkola (his second of the game), Aleksander Barkov (two goals), and Brad Marchand all scored for the Panthers, who took a commanding 6-1 lead.
SASHA BARKOV MAKES IT 4-1, THE PANTHERS SCORE TWO IN 29 SECONDS 🚨 pic.twitter.com/Bud6UUrtZC
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 25, 2025
Carolina stopped the bleeding with a power-play goal from Seth Jarvis, but they’d get no further.
3 Hurricanes Who Failed To Make an Impact in Game 3 Loss
#1. Dmitry Orlov
Dmitry Orlov’s performance against the Panthers in Game 3 was nothing short of a complete disaster. He started by accidentally deflecting the puck past his own goaltender for the game’s opening goal in the first period.
When it was all said and done, Orlov finished the game with a subpar -4 rating, which included a brutal giveaway that led directly to one of Florida’s many goals in the third period. Orlov is one of Carolina’s leaders on the blue line, but he didn’t play like it on Saturday.
#2. Taylor Hall
Acquired as part of the major trade involving Mikko Rantanen earlier this season, Taylor Hall earned himself a new three-year contract from the Hurricanes in April.
However, Hall was nowhere to be found for his club on Saturday night. Not only did he fail to make any kind of impact offensively, but he was tied for a team-worst -4 rating among all Carolina players. He also committed a giveaway as part of the loss.
#3. Pyotr Kochetkov
Making his second start in the postseason and replacing the struggling Freddy Andersen, Kochetkov kept pace with Bobrovsky through the first 40 minutes of play.
However, like the rest of his teammates, he imploded in the third period. He allowed five goals on the 13 shots Florida fired his way in the final frame, finishing with a .786 save percentage. At this level, he should have had no problem stopping at least two of the goals he surrendered.
Brad Marchand – Florida Panthers (4)* pic.twitter.com/z751o01eLQ
— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) May 25, 2025
Carolina now has several more questions than answers, and time is quickly running out for them.
