Carolina Hurricanes vs. Florida Panthers: Game 2 Preview and Discussion

The Hurricanes made history in a way they’d preferred not to do so on Thursday night...er, Friday morning.

The sixth-longest game in NHL history ended just before 2:00 a.m, the longest in the history of both the Hurricanes and Florida Panthers, and the latest end to a game in the 24-year history of PNC Arena. It was the longest game in the NHL in three years, since the five-overtime epic between the Lightning and Blue Jackets in the Toronto bubble in 2020. That game indirectly impacted the Hurricanes, since their own game against the Bruins was forced to the next morning by the never-ending exhibition of endurance.

That was an inconvenience. This is something more. Just 42 hours after the end of Thursday’s marathon, the Canes head back to the ice to try to even the Eastern Conference Final. If they can do it in just sixty minutes of game time, all the better, but the win is what matters here, by any means — and any length — necessary.

Game Notes

• Working in the Hurricanes’ favor: the Blue Jackets won Game 2 in 2020 after dropping that never-ending Game 1 in five overtimes. The Canes will very much hope that history repeats itself. (They will, however, be hopeful that it doesn’t extend to the outcome of the series. Game 2 was the only game the Jackets won in a 4-1 series win for Tampa.)
• The Canes didn’t take a morning skate, unsurprisingly: they haven’t done it much this postseason anyway, and after being on the ice for six hours on Thursday, it wasn’t a shock. Somewhat surprisingly, Florida did skate this morning.
• Without a morning skate to confirm, we’ll have to wait until warmups, but with Antti Raanta back healthy and Frederik Andersen presumably welcoming a break, the likelihood of Raanta starting Game 2 seems high.
• It would be a shock if Paul Maurice benched Sergei Bobrovsky after he goalied the Hurricanes in Game 1 (seriously, six goals saved above expected!). Maurice said he expected no changes to the lineup.

Projected Lineups

Hurricanes

Stefan Noesen - Sebastian Aho - Seth Jarvis
Jordan Martinook - Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Jesper Fast
Teuvo Teravainen - Jordan Staal - Martin Necas
Jack Drury - Paul Stastny - Derek Stepan

Jaccob Slavin - Brent Burns
Brady Skjei - Brett Pesce
Shayne Gostisbehere - Jalen Chatfield

Antti Raanta
Frederik Andersen

Injuries and Scratches: Dylan Coghlan (healthy), Calvin de Haan (healthy), Jesse Puljujarvi (healthy), Pyotr Kochetkov (healthy), Andrei Svechnikov (LTIR ACL), Max Pacioretty (LTIR Achilles), Ondrej Kase (LTIR concussion)

Panthers

Carter Verhaeghe - Aleksander Barkov - Anthony Duclair
Nick Cousins - Sam Bennett - Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen - Anton Lundell - Sam Reinhart
Colin White - Eric Staal - Ryan Lomberg

Gustav Forsling - Aaron Ekblad
Marc Staal - Brandon Montour
Josh Mahura - Radko Gudas

Sergei Bobrovsky
Alex Lyon

Injuries and Scratches: Givani Smith (healthy), Mike Benning (healthy), Casey Fitzgerald (healthy), Evan Fitzpatrick (healthy), Zac Dalpe (healthy), Patric Hornqvist (LTIR concussion)

Tonight’s Officials
Referees: Chris Rooney #5, Jean Hebert #15 (standby: Chris Lee #28)
Linesmen: Matt MacPherson #83, David Brisebois #96 (standby: Brad Kovachik #71)