Panthers beat Hurricanes 3-2 in 4th OT

The Florida Panthers edged the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final in a match that finished in the early hours of Friday.

The @FlaPanthers became the third team in NHL history to win each of their first five overtime games in a single postseason and took an early lead in the Eastern Conference Final. #StanleyCup#NHLStats: https://t.co/7Nc25cibAJ pic.twitter.com/RkzAsif0bc

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) May 19, 2023

In the dying moments of the 4th overtime, when the game seemed doomed to go forever, with 12.7 seconds left Matthew Tkachuk gave Florida the win with an excellent strike, overcoming goaltender Frederik Andersen.

Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaege scored in regulation time for the Panthers, while goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made a stunning 63 saves in what turned out to be a historic match.

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Seth Jarvis and Stefan Noesen scored two power-play goals for the Hurricanes, as goaltender Andersen had 57 saves.

“It was a good goalie battle,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “It was unfortunate we just couldn’t find one.”

The game lasted almost 6 hours, breaking the record for a playoff and qualifying 6th in NHL history.

Game 2 is on its way on Saturday in Raleigh, just 48 hours after this epic encounter.