How Carolina stayed alive and what’s ahead for Game 5 against Florida
Was this a sign of more to come for the Carolina Hurricanes? Or is this just delaying the Florida Panthers stamping their ticket to a third straight Stanley Cup Final? Game 4 presented a different dynamic from what we had previously seen in the Eastern Conference finals with the Hurricanes establishing their identity and consistently finding success with it in a 3-0 win Monday.
Every series and the games within those series come with questions. Those facing the Hurricanes centered on how they would perform knowing they were a loss away from their season ending, among other big-picture questions. Although the Panthers faced their share of questions too, theirs centered on whether they could pull off their first sweep since 2023, when they won four straight against the Canes in the conference finals.
Now that we know there will be a Game 5 on Wednesday, there’s at least one more contest to look forward to in this series. Ryan S. Clark and Kristen Shilton take a look at what happened in Game 4, the figures who could continue to shape the series and what it means entering Game 5.
Think about how this series started for the Hurricanes. A franchise with an identity rooted in defensive consistency displayed little of it through the first three games. They gave up at least one goal in the first six periods of the series. Beginning Game 3 by not giving up a goal in the first period and only one in the second presented the notion that the Hurricanes might have found their game — only to have them give up five goals in the third.
That’s what made their Game 4 start so tantalizing as they shut out the Panthers through two periods while giving up only 12 shots on goal. Yet it came with the caveat that Florida had owned the third period with a plus-12 goal differential in the postseason while scoring seven times in the final frame in this series. Mark Jankowski‘s goal gave Carolina a 2-0 lead only to be called back for offside. Still, the Hurricanes withstood a late push by the defending Stanley Cup champions and held firm by scoring a pair of empty-netters to secure not only their first win of the series but possibly their most important win of the season. — Ryan S. Clark
1:25
Mark Jankowski’s goal waved off due to offsides
Mark Jankowski appears to give Carolina a 2-0 lead, but the goal is overturned after a Panthers challenge.
Florida was 5-0 entering Monday’s game when leading a playoff series 3-0. The Panthers played with championship poise in the first period as a desperate Carolina team controlled much of the action and were outshot by the visitors 11-7. Florida was playing shorthanded with Sam Reinhart, Niko Mikkola and A.J. Greer all sitting out because of injuries. And the Panthers had to overcome an uncharacteristic lack of discipline, handing the Hurricanes too many power plays while stunting their own momentum. And then there was the embellishment call against Matthew Tkachuk that negated a Panthers man advantage in the second period, again forcing the Panthers to maintain their composure.
Sergei Bobrovsky was terrific in the crease as the Hurricanes sent bodies to the net in an effort to take his eyes away — Florida was outshot 20-8 midway through the game. But when Logan Stankoven finally broke through for Carolina, a Florida loss felt inevitable. The Panthers just kept hurting themselves from there, with Dmitry Kulikov going to the box early in the third period. Florida never got rolling the way it had previously in the series and its power play failed to capitalize on any of its chances.
Whether the dip was caused by to the Hurricanes’ pressure (and strong penalty kill) or the result of Florida simply being due for a less dominant performance, all the Panthers did was put themselves back on a plane to Raleigh with another chance to finish off the Hurricanes. — Kristen Shilton
Three Stars of Game 3
1. Logan Stankoven
C, Hurricanes
Stankoven scored the winner, becoming the third rookie in franchise history with five goals in a postseason. The Hurricanes are 13-6 when scoring first in games in which they face elimination.
Andersen turned in his second shutout in the playoffs, and his second with Carolina, making 20 saves. He joins Cam Ward (4), Petr Mrazek (2) and Kevin Weekes (2) as the only goalies with multiple postseason shutouts in franchise history.
3. The Canes’ core
After being called out by coach Rod Brind’Amour after Game 3, the veterans and stars of the Hurricanes showed up in Game 4, largely limiting the Panthers and creating opportunities. This is Carolina’s first victory in a conference final game since their Stanley Cup season in 2006, ending a 15-game losing streak. — Arda Öcal
Players to watch in Game 4
The Panthers’ instigator is in elite company when it comes to potential close-out game production: Marchand ranks fourth among active skaters in points during series-clinching games (7 goals, 17 assists, 24 points). Those ahead of him? Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Patrick Kane. Good company indeed. And Marchand is poised to help the Panthers get over the hump. He has one goal in the conference finals and was playing with Aleksander Barkov and Evan Rodrigues in Game 4. Marchand has a knack for coming through in the clutch (see his overtime goal in Game 3 vs. Toronto in the second round).
Florida is as star-driven as it is defined by its role players. This feels like a pinnacle in which Marchand’s experience at picking the right moment to make his mark will be a significant factor for the Panthers against a Hurricanes team that noticeably tightened up in Game 4 and will attempt to recreate that performance in Game 5. Expect Marchand to have an impact Wednesday night. — Shilton
0:18
Frederik Andersen’s save preserves Carolina’s lead in Game 4
Frederik Andersen makes a nice save in the third period to keep the Hurricanes in front against the Panthers.
Frederik Andersen
G, Hurricanes
After Andersen was benched ahead of Game 3 in favor of Pyotr Kochetkov, it was reasonable to wonder if we’d see him again in the series. But Kochetkov, despite giving up one goal over the first two periods, struggled in a third period that saw the Canes give up five goals.
That led to Brind’Amour returning to the more experienced Andersen, who delivered a shutout that was amplified by a third period in which he made eight saves in a late push by the Panthers. In Game 4, Florida had difficulty generating such a high amount of shots, which was not the case in the first three games. Andersen replicating what he did in Game 4 or coming close to it throughout Game 5 could allow the Hurricanes to extend their season. — Clark
Big questions for Game 5
Who will be available to dress for the Panthers in Game 5?
Florida clearly missed Reinhart, Mikkola and even Greer in Game 4, and getting any or all of them back Wednesday would be an enormous boost. Though Florida’s depth has been impressive — Jesper Boqvist has been a particularly strong injury replacement — the Panthers would like to be as close to full strength as possible to get the job done against Carolina and enjoy some much-needed rest.
Reinahrt was the club’s leading scorer in the regular season with 81 points and Florida is 0-for-8 on the power play without him against Carolina. He is not easy to replace. Mikkola has been excellent at both ends of the ice and was seemingly getting better with every game. And Greer is a dependable role player who has had an impact on the fourth line. Coach Paul Maurice said all three are considered day-to-day. — Shilton
Have the Hurricanes finally found a successful blueprint?
Coming into Game 4, the Panthers nearly had as many goals in the first three games as the New Jersey Devils and Washington Capitals had combined for against the Hurricanes in this year’s playoffs. Carolina’s play in the first two periods in Game 3 provided Brind’Amour’s club with its most consistent stretch, and the Canes harnessed that throughout a full performance in Game 4.
But questions still remain ahead of Game 5. Was this just a one-off or have the Hurricanes found a recipe for success against the Panthers? Do the Panthers close this out in Game 5 or could this be like last year’s Cup final against the Edmonton Oilers when they went from a 3-0 series lead to being forced to win in Game 7? — Clark
AMES, Iowa — No. 14 Iowa State‘s secondary will be without longtime starters Jontez Williams and Jeremiah Cooper for the rest of the season because of knee injuries.
Coach Matt Campbell announced Tuesday that Williams damaged the ACL in his right knee late in the Cyclones’ 39-14 win over Arizona on Saturday. Cooper tore his ACL in practice last week. The two have combined for 55 starts.
Williams, an Associated Press All-Big 12 second-team pick in 2024, had one interception and two pass breakups this season. He was hurt with three minutes left against Arizona as he dove in an attempt to knock a ball away from a receiver.
“So that’s a situation that really stinks for the kid,” Campbell said. “But man, just how he’s handled it has been uber impressive. And a great human. He’ll be back ready to rock and roll next year.”
Cooper has made 36 starts since 2022 and was an AP All-Big 12 first-team pick at safety in 2023. He switched to cornerback full time this season and had an interception and three pass breakups through four games.
Tre Bell, a transfer from Lindenwood, made his first start for the Cyclones in Cooper’s place against Arizona. Quentin Taylor Jr., who played 26 snaps against Arizona, would be in line to make his first start when the Cyclones (5-0, 2-0 Big 12) visit Cincinnati (3-1, 1-0) on Saturday.
Inspirational thought of the week:
I hear your laugh
And look up smiling at you
I run and run
Past the pumpkin patch
And the tractor rides
Look now, the sky is gold
I hug your legs
And fall asleep on the way home
I don’t know why all the trees change in the fall
But I know you’re not scared of anything at all
— “The Best Day,” Taylor Swift
Here at Bottom 10 Headquarters, located beneath the pile of regret RSVP cards at Rece Davis’ house because his daughter scheduled a fall wedding, now that October has arrived, we know exactly where you will all have been this week. Standing in line with us, waiting for the store to open at midnight Oct. 3 to sell us the first copies of Tay-Tay’s new album, “The Life of a Showgirl.”
Yes, this week the World’s Most Famous Chiefs Fan Not Named Ant-Man drops her new batch of songs, but we also know that as the Bottom 10 faithful camp out on the sidewalk, they will be listening to another playlist of sweet tunes. I’m speaking of the fight songs of Sam Houston, We Have a Problem on Thursday night. Then, the Charlotte 1-and-3’ers, San No-sé State and Colora-duh State on Friday night. All programs that are in their own “Era” of writing “Bottom 10’s Version” of their “Reputation” for “Evermore.”
And while we watch those games, at some point we will realize that it isn’t “1989” and we no longer have to be in line to buy a new record. Or buy records at all. We can download them to our phones. Or as we call them here in the B10CU, the Bottom 10 Cinematic Universe, our pocket computers.
With apologies to the Taylor University Trojans, former Nebraska wide receiver Nate Swift and Steve Harvey, here are the post-Week 5 Bottom 10 rankings.
The Bearkats kruised through their skheduled open date and now koncentrate on krossing the Rio Grande for a kontest kounter to New Mexiko State, who were just konquered by New Mexiko in Albukuerkue.
Have you seen that meme of Cookie Monster drumming his fingers on the table, impatiently waiting to go bonkers on a yet-to-arrive tray of cookies? Yeah, that’s us, waiting for the Oct. 11 Pillow Fight of the Week of the Year of the Century Mega Bowl, when the Minutemen travel to face State of Kent, who are 1-3 after taking the week off. But before that, UMass hosts Western Not Eastern Michigan, while Kent will be getting run over by the Sooner Schooner like a snake trying to cross an Oklahoma freeway.
In Westwood, they said bye to their coach, then they had a bye week, then they lost at Bottom 10 Wait Listers Northworstern, then they raced USC back to Los Angeles, both wondering why they said bye to having all those games closer to home in the league they said bye to too.
Speaking of the Artist Formerly Known But Soon To Be Known Again As The Pac-12, the Beavers became the nation’s first five-loss team after a near-win over undefeated Houston Not Sam Houston. Now they travel east to face Appalachian State in Boone, North Carolina, where I once camped with the Boy Scouts and had all of our food stolen by actual beavers.
There are those who might try to convince you that Penn State’s White Out didn’t work the night they played Oregon, but it did. Watch James Franklin’s postgame news conference when he was asked about his record against top-10 teams. He totally used virtual Wite-Out to paint over the word “narrative” and change it to “factual.”
I was roasted over mesquite, and rightfully so, for omitting Oklahoma State from these rankings one week ago after it lost to Living On Tulsa Time at home and then fired Mike “I’m a man! I’m 58!” Gundy. It was a mistake. I was in denial. But I was snapped out of that trance of disbelief by all of the DMs and texts from Stillwater phone numbers saying that I had to have Oklahoma State in here this week or lose all credibility, including one from what my caller ID listed as “Gundy, M.”
The Spartans Not Trojans are one of a whopping four Mountain West teams stuck at 1-3, but won, er, lost out for this spot over the other three because: A. They actually played a game last weekend; 3. They lost the Pillow Fight of the Week to neighbor and fellow Bottom 10 Waiting Lister Stanfird by one point; and fifthly, they can probably sneak up on New Mexico this weekend because the Lobos have spent all week with upset tummies after spending a week eating from college football’s new greatest rivalry trophy, the Chile Roaster.
I feel very strongly that we as a nation aren’t making a big enough deal out of this new chile roaster trophy for New Mexico-New Mexico State. pic.twitter.com/ls0s5X1ETA
— Ryan McGee (@ESPNMcGee) September 28, 2025
The Other Other Huskies are one of a whopping six #MACtion team stuck at 1-and-something, but won, er, lost out for this spot over the other five because: 1. They actually played a game last weekend; C. They lost to San Diego State, which isn’t terrible, but the final score of the game was 6-3; and secondly, we wanted a chance to hype this week’s Pillow Fight of the Week, when they host My Hammy of Ohio, which is now 1-3 after beating Lindenwood, a school you’ve never heard of unless you are a big Pierre Desir fan.
The Red Wolves are one of a not-as-whopping but still not small three Fun Belt teams stuck at 1-and-something, but won, er, lost out for this spot over the other two because: I. They actually played last weekend; IV. They lost to our old friends and former Bottom 10 stalwart ULM (pronounced “uhlm”); and XL. That Week 2 loss to now-head coach-less Arkansaw by 42 points is aging about as well as that bottle of gas station chardonnay that I accidentally left under the seat of my truck all summer.
My hometown team is one of a totally-not-whopping-but-still-seems-like-a-lot-for-one-conference-after-only-one-month-of-football three Just American teams stuck at 1-and-something, but won, er … OK, yeah … I’m tired of this bit too. Almost as tired as the Niners fans will be of watching US(not C)F run up and down the field on Friday night. The good news? Shortly after the game ends, they can ease their pain by listening to Tay’s new album.
Waiting list: State of Kent, UTEPid, Muddled Tennessee State, Northworstern, FA(not I)U, Bah-stan Cawledge, Clempson, Flori-duh, Georgia State Not Southern, Colora-duh State, No-vada, Stanfird, My Hammy of Ohio, South Alabama Redundancies, Give Me Liberty Or Give Me 1-4, Akronmonious, Baller State, a college football world without Sam Pittman in it.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Sports3 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment12 months agoHere are the best electric bikes you can buy at every price level in October 2024