3 Positions Fighting Carolina Hurricanes Need to Win Panthers – Hockey Writer – Carolina Hurricanes

For the second of just three seasons, we will start playing the battle between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Florida Panthers in the NHL’s Eastern Conference Finals. It seemed like an incredible reality a decade ago, but the two franchises have gone from mediocrity and relocation rumors to true perennial contenders.

The Hurricane will hope for better results with 2023. Even though the Panthers swept the series, the reality was to win and lose in the first game. Matthew Tkachuk broke the heart of the crutch with a goal in the final seconds of the fourth overtime, the longest game of the two teams, their efforts to suffer, which is within the scope of suffering, and that they are so beneficiary of courage.

This time, both teams are more prepared. In 2023, the Panthers lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup final and then resumed the game last spring to become the Game 7 Cup champion. The Hurricanes will hope to prevent the Panthers from playing for a third straight final. Although many consider Carolina’s “refactory” year, they managed to play their best hockey in the playoffs for seven years and seem to end up doing their best to get rid of the second round curse.

Entering Game 1, most of the focus will be on the positional showdown between the players of the two teams. These are the three most attractive matches.

Sebastian Aho and Aleksander Barkov

The Finns’ Battle – also known as the front-line central battle. Sebastian Aho and Aleksander Barkov are respected NHL veterans who competed in similar games. They have advanced skills and play very honest two-way games, proud of relying on every aspect of the game.

It’s hard to exaggerate their importance to the team. Aho has led the playoff scores in every game in the last seven games, including 3 goals and 10 points in 10 games in 2025. Meanwhile, Balkov became the first Finnish captain to lead his team into the Stanley Cup victory last spring and faced the Finnish captain of four countries in the four countries. He is a natural leader and always finds a way to boost the chips online.

They are two of the two best two-way centers in the game, and if they want to improve, both players need to be a huge part of the team’s offense and defense. These two elite showdowns are perfect for the biggest stage, and Aho will need to be a superior player to reach the Cup finals.

Frederik Andersen

Frederik Andersen and Sergei Bobrovsky became the two most popular goalkeepers in the playoffs. Now, both of them have extensive playoff experience throughout their careers and have been a key gear to the overall success of their team for much of the past decade.

In Andersen’s case, his goal was to keep silent critics who have condemned playoff performances since he was the Maple Leaf. Often a regular season goalkeeper in the regular season, he struggles to replicate the same success when the playoffs are stressed. However, in 2025, he is almost perfect, with all goalkeepers targeting an average of 1.37 and a percentage savings (SV%) at a price of 1.37, a dazzling 0.937. Of course, the way the hurricane is defended is worth mentioning, but overall Andersen performed well.

On the other end, Bobrovsky is one of the most consistent goalkeepers in the past few seasons and is a strong contender for the Conn Smyth trophy last spring. When his team needed him the most, he always found a way to rise and the biggest way to emerge. He hindered the Hurricanes in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals, allowing only six goals in an incredible 174 shots, including 63 racing performances in that 4OT thriller.

At this point, Bobrovsky has the numbers for hurricanes and they have to find a solution to him. A provocative low-quality shot from the ice isn’t a viable strategy this time of year, he’s taking his game to such a high level this time of year, and the crutch needs some support from goal-scoring to put Andersen under some pressure, who will also fill his hands with the Panthers’ high-octane offensive weapon. There is no doubt that this goal-guard duel will be a thriller.

Andrei Svechnikov vs. Matthew Tkachuk

This is a battle between power forwards – Andrei Svechnikov and Matthew Tkachuk. While Svechnikov doesn’t necessarily offer the powerful physical presence that Tkachuk offers, the hope is that Canes’ talented Russian winger will continue to offer heavy and finishing abilities that put him second in the playoffs.

Svechnikov was quarreled the year before and next as he found his foothold and had been against the New Jersey Devils since the first game. He scored 8 goals in 10 games and is playing strength, toughness and North/South style, which makes him so effective. When he maintains this level of confidence, he remains one of the top wingers in the league and can take over a game by himself.

At the same time, even if Tkachuk doesn’t score, he will affect a game. He didn’t score a single goal in the seven-game series against the Maple Leafs in the second round. He is a pest and has a heavy body. He did a lot of dirty work there, but he was quiet and pedestrian (especially in Games 6 and 7) was a bit worrying because he was too good to contribute to the offense. He can take advantage of the size and physical condition of the crutch and take advantage of that.

Related: Hurricanes’ Svechnikov finds his best form in these playoffs

The result of this heavyweight battle could wield the series. If Svechnikov can’t continue his offensive performance, or at least manage to score consistently, the same issue that the Hurricanes may have in the playoffs yearly—their scores will dry out. For Tkachuk, he is still the X-factor of Black Panther. His figure, skills and cruelty make him very difficult. Both players can take over the game and wield their support, which makes them focus on the essential players.

Lots of online

The series has all the characteristics of an incredible conference final showdown. The Hurricanes are avenging their heartbroken 2023 and ultimately want to take the next step in the Rod Brind’Amour era, while the Panthers are looking to reach the Stanley Cup final for the third straight time. We have two very talented rosters and coaching staff, and it will be a tough tactical war. I can’t wait to see the hockey drop tonight at 8pm ET, perhaps the best teams prevail.