Panthers-Hurricanes Game 4 preview: Can Carolina avoid another sweep?

Through the first two rounds, the Carolina Hurricanes looked as dominant as anyone, needing just 10 games to dispatch the New Jersey Devils and Washington Capitals.

The Eastern Conference finals have been a different story.

Carolina has run into the Florida Panthers, who are showing everyone that they are serious about defending the 2024 Stanley Cup title. Florida has won all three games by an aggregate score of 16-4.

Can the Canes pull off a historic comeback from down 3-0, or are the Panthers headed to a third consecutive Stanley Cup Final?

Here are matchup notes heading into Monday’s Game 4 from ESPN Research, as well as betting intel from ESPN BET:

More on Game 3: Recap | Grades

Matchup notes

Carolina Hurricanes at Florida Panthers
Game 4 | 8 p.m. ET | TNT

The Panthers, who are up 3-0 in the series, are -5000 to win, while the Hurricanes are +1500 to take the series, per ESPN BET; those numbers are adjusted from Florida -700 and Carolina +425 before Game 3. Florida is also the favorite to win the Cup at -110, and Sergei Bobrovsky leads the Conn Smythe Trophy candidates at +200.

With six goals in Game 3, Florida has scored at least five goals for four straight games, dating to Game 7 of the second round vs. the Toronto Maple Leafs. It’s the fourth instance in the past 30 years of a team scoring five-plus goals in four consecutive postseason games, joining the 1995 Detroit Red Wings, 2021 Colorado Avalanche and 2024 Avalanche.

Aleksander Barkov had two of the Panthers’ five third-period goals, and also added an assist, in the win. It is his 20th career multipoint playoff game, breaking a tie with teammate Carter Verhaeghe for the most in Panthers postseason history.

Also scoring two goals in the win was defenseman Niko Mikkola, who had just three goals in 61 career playoff games entering Saturday. Mikkola’s effort was just the fourth multigoal playoff game by a defenseman in Panthers history.

Evan Rodrigues had two assists in Game 3, becoming the sixth player in NHL history to register multiple assists in each of the first three games of a conference finals/Stanley Cup semifinals series (and the first since Al MacInnis in 1986).

The Hurricanes have lost 15 straight conference final-round games, extending their record for most consecutive losses in the round before the Stanley Cup Final (either conference final or semifinals) in Stanley Cup playoffs history. Carolina’s last win in a conference final-round game was June 1, 2006 (a 4-2 victory over Buffalo in Game 7 of the 2006 Eastern Conference finals).

Logan Stankoven finished with a goal and an assist, becoming the third rookie in Whalers/Hurricanes Stanley Cup playoffs history with four or more goals in a playoff year, joining Erik Cole in 2002 and Warren Foegele in 2019.

Carolina must try to come back from a 3-0 series deficit, something only four teams in Stanley Cup playoff history have accomplished in a best-of-seven series: Los Angeles Kings over San Jose Sharks (2014 conference quarterfinals), Philadelphia Flyers over Boston Bruins (2010 conference semifinals), New York Islanders over Pittsburgh Penguins (1975 quarterfinals), Maple Leafs over Red Wings (1942 Stanley Cup Final).

Scoring leaders

GP: 15 | G: 6 | A: 9

GP: 12 | G: 5 | A: 8