Tkachuk's OT winner gives Panthers 2-0 ECF lead

RALEIGH, N.C. — Matthew Tkachuk didn’t need four overtimes to score the game-winning goal this time. He just needed one to give the Florida Panthers a 2-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference finals over the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Panthers star winger’s power-play goal at 1:51 of the first overtime gave his team a 2-1 win on Saturday night. Game 1 of the conference final was the sixth-longest Stanley Cup playoff game in NHL history, lasting four overtimes until Tkachuk’s goal at 19:47.

On Saturday, with Carolina forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi in the penalty box for hooking, the Panthers’ Sam Bennett passed to Sam Reinhart, who found Tkachuk for a quick shot that beat goaltender Antti Raanta high.

“It’s been a lot of hockey in the last two games. It’s just great to end it early,” said Tkachuk, who netted his seventh goal of the playoffs. “Great pass to start by Benny, and a great pass by Rhino there to make it really, really easy for me. It was awesome.”

The Panthers improved to 6-0 in overtimes during this playoff run. For Tkachuk, it was his third overtime winner of the postseason.

Just like he did when the Panthers won Game 1 in the fourth overtime, Tkachuk pointed to the exit of the rink and led his Panthers off the ice to celebrate.

For the Hurricanes, it was a frustrating night full of close calls and missed opportunities. They came out blazing in the first period, at one point outshooting Florida 17-1. They went 0-for-3 on the power play after converting twice in Game 1.

“This is not new to us. We’ve been kicked in the teeth here a lot these last few years, and we’ve always responded,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said.

Carolina opened the scoring just 1:43 into the game. Winger Stefan Noesen skated in with a shot that Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky blocked to the opposite corner. That’s where Sebastian Aho found it and quickly sent a pass to a cutting Jalen Chatfield, who deflected it past Bobrovsky for his first career playoff goal.

Florida appeared to tie the game moments later on a Gustav Forsling shot that sailed through traffic. But Carolina used a coach’s challenge, believing the play was offside. Video review determined Panthers center Bennett didn’t have possession of the puck, as he crossed the blueline before it did. It was ruled no goal, and the Hurricanes maintained their lead.

The Hurricanes had a goal of their own taken off the board with 4:04 left in the period. A nice passing play from forward Mackenzie MacEachern — who replaced Derek Stepan in the lineup for Game 2 — set up a Jack Drury shot that beat Bobrovsky to the high glove side. But the Panthers used a coach’s challenge, and the officials determined the play was offside. No goal, again.

Florida tied the game at 7:43 of the second period on a patient goal from captain Aleksander Barkov, who had just served a holding penalty that the Panthers killed off.

Florida’s forecheck didn’t allow Carolina to clear its defensive zone. As defenseman Josh Mahura kept the puck at the blue line, Barkov snuck behind four Carolina defenders and received a pass alone in front of Raanta. Barkov brilliantly deked Raanta, faking like he was going to shoot the puck through his legs, before waiting out the goalie and beating him with the backhand.

Panthers coach Paul Maurice said he had never before seen a move like that succeed. As his next line hit the ice after the goal, Maurice said he quickly caught a replay of Barkov’s goal on the bench monitor.

“Oh, my god, he just did that. That’s so awesome,” Maurice said. “It doesn’t change. You’re a coach in the league for a long time and you still have those absolute fan moments.”

On TNT’s intermission show, no less a goal-scoring authority as Wayne Gretzky praised Barkov’s tally.

“We’ve all seen guys through the legs now, right? It’s become kind of an art. A lot of guys try it. A lot of guys do it. But to see him in a Stanley Cup playoff game — under the gun, pressure situation, down 1-0 — to make that move? That’s one of the greatest moves I’ve seen in the Stanley Cup playoffs,” Gretzky said.

Barkov was overwhelmed by Gretzky’s praise after the game.

“I’m pretty sure he scored a lot of bigger goals, but it’s nice coming from him, for sure,” said Barkov, who explained that he practiced the move while playing outdoors when he was younger.

Bobrovsky was brilliant in the second period, making key stops on a Paul Stastny deflection and a Teuvo Teravainen shot in close. The third period saw the Panthers’ Colin White nearly break the tie, sliding the puck across the crease with Raanta out of his net. The Hurricanes had a power play with just over six minutes remaining but couldn’t convert.

By the end of regulation, the score remained 1-1, and Bobrovsky had stopped 35 of 36 shots.

Just 1:51 into overtime, the game was over.

It was the Panthers’ first power-play goal in six tries against the Hurricanes’ penalty kill, ranked No. 1 in the postseason for a unit that Maurice called “a beast” before Game 2.

“We knew coming into the series we’re going to have a whole bunch of power plays that look terrible. But what you can’t have is your players losing their confidence and changing the way they think,” Maurice said.

The Hurricanes started Raanta after goalie Frederik Andersen played four overtimes in Game 1. Raanta, 34, last appeared in the Hurricanes’ Game 5 loss against the New York Islanders on April 25 in the first round; Andersen took over the crease and won Game 6, and he had started every previous game since then.

Andersen and Bobrovsky both played 139 minutes, 47 seconds in Game 1.

Maurice didn’t hesitate in naming Bobrovsky his starter for Game 2.

But Brind’Amour indicated after Game 1 that a load-management decision for his goaltenders was under consideration.

“You have to. The guy played the whole game,” he said.

Brind’Amour wouldn’t commit to Andersen or Raanta for Game 3 on Monday night in Florida, saying he had confidence in both goaltenders.

“We’ve got two guys we can throw in there. That’s certainly not our issue,” he said.

The issue is the other goaltender. Bobrovsky has now stopped 100 of 103 shots he has faced in this series for .971 save percentage.

“We haven’t gotten a bounce yet,” Brind’Amour said. “Hopefully, we’ll get one because that’s what we’re probably going to need.”