The NHL Eastern Conference Finals have officially begun with a bang, as the Florida Panthers picked apart the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 on Tuesday, May 20, in Raleigh, N.C.
The Panthers now lead the series 1-0 after a convincing 5-2 victory at Lenovo Center, thanks to five different goal scorers on the side of Florida and 31 saves from goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.
Controversy broke out in the third period, though, after a controversial play from Hurricanes defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, leading to a fight with Panthers forward Brad Marchand.
Brad Marchand Drops Gloves Against Hurricanes’ Shayne Gostisbehere
The confrontation began when Gostisbehere took considerable exception to an attempted hit on the part of Marchand, which he managed to evade. Gostisbehere retaliated by firing the puck directly at Marchand.
Instantly, Marchand went after Gostisbehere and dropped the gloves:
Marchand went for the BIG hit on Gostisbehere, and then Gostisbehere SHOT THE PUCK at Marchand and the two went at it 🫨🫣 pic.twitter.com/cHEXQAepgW
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) May 21, 2025
Marchand was slapped with four minutes’ worth of penalty time along with a 10-minute misconduct. Meanwhile, Gostisbehere only received a two-minute minor for roughing.
Marchand was acquired by the Panthers from the Boston Bruins at the NHL trade deadline and played a major role in helping Florida defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round.
Panthers, Hurricanes Meet in ECF for 2nd Time in 3 Years
The Panthers and Hurricanes are no strangers to one another; they’ve already played each other in the Eastern Conference Finals twice within the last two years.
They met in the third round during the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs; the Panthers had already stunned the NHL-best Boston Bruins in a seven-game shocker and followed that up with a five-game series win against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Meanwhile, the Hurricanes had defeated the New York Islanders and the New Jersey Devils en route to their first berth in the Conference Final since 2019.
The 2023 series saw a pair of opening overtime games, including a four-overtime Game 1 that ended after Matthew Tkachuk finally beat goaltender Frederik Andersen; he later scored the overtime game-winner shortly into the first overtime in Game 2.
Tkachuk then put the finishing touches on the sweep by scoring the winning goal over the Hurricanes late in regulation in Game 4. The Panthers qualified for the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1996, eventually falling in five games to the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Panthers got the job done with a seven-game victory over the Edmonton Oilers last spring, capturing the franchise’s first title. They’re loaded for an attempt at a third straight Stanley Cup Finals appearance, now just three victories away.
