Carolina Hurricanes vs Florida Panthers
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Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves, and five players scored for the Florida Panthers, who defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Tuesday. It was Carolina’s first loss in six home games in these Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Just 48 hours after beating Toronto in Game 7, Florida became the first team in these playoffs to win in Carolina.
After a dominant 6-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 7 of the second round, the Florida Panthers' offense kept rolling into the Eastern Conference Finals.
That’s five straight playoff losses to the Panthers, and 13 straight in this round, period, for the Hurricanes since June 1, 2006. Eric Staal and Erik Cole were on the ice that night; their efforts to cheer the team on from a suite Tuesday went unheeded.