Panthers top Hurricanes 1-0 for 3-0 lead in East final

Sergei Bobrovsky was unbreakable and stopped staggering 32 shots for his first career playoff shutout and Sam Reinhart scored a power-play goal midway through the second period as Florida Panthers moved to one win away from a Stanley Cup Final by blanking the Carolina Hurricanes 1-0 on Monday night.

Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett had the assists on the Reinhart goal for Florida, which now leads the Eastern Conference final 3-0. The Panthers are looking at their first Stanley Cup match since 1996, but can clinch a trip to the title round with a win in Game 4 on Wednesday.

This marks the 205th time that a team has taken a 3-0 series lead in NHL playoff history. Of the first 204, 200 went on to win the series.

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It wasn’t a perfect night for Florida, however: Captain Aleksander Barkov left with about 7 minutes left in the first period with a lower-body injury and did not return, even though the team listed him as questionable.