Panthers game-by-game recap on way to Stanley Cup Final

The Florida Panthers will play for the Stanley Cup for the third straight season.

The Panthers entered the postseason as the No. 3 seed from the Atlantic Division and defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games in the first round and the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games in the second round before defeating the Carolina Hurricanes in five games to advance to the Cup Final.

Florida defeated the Edmonton Oilers in seven games last season to win the Cup for the first time in its history after it was defeated by the Vegas Golden Knights in five games in the 2023 Final.

Here is a look at the Panthers' road to the Stanley Cup Final:

April 22: Game 1, Eastern Conference First Round, Amalie Arena: Panthers 6, Lightning 2

In their first playoff game as defending champions, the Panthers scored early and often. Matthew Tkachuk had three points in his first game since missing more than two months because of an injury and Nate Schmidt scored twice. Florida got three power-play goals and Sergei Bobrovsky made 20 saves for a 1-0 series lead.

April 24: Game 2, Eastern Conference First Round, Amalie Arena: Panthers 2, Lightning 0

Less than five minutes into the game, Schmidt scored his third goal in two games for a 1-0 Panthers lead. That was all the offense Florida would need as Bobrovsky made 19 saves and Sam Bennett added an empty-net goal with four seconds remaining in the third period to take a 2-0 lead with two road wins.

April 26: Game 3, Eastern Conference First Round, Amerant Bank Arena: Lightning 5, Panthers 1

Tkachuk put the Panthers up 1-0 2:43 into the first but the Lightning scored the next five goals. Jake Guentzel had a goal and two assists, and Nikita Kucherov had three assists. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 33 saves for the Lightning, who got back into the series.

April 28: Game 4, Eastern Conference First Round, Amerant Bank Arena: Panthers 4, Lightning 2

Anton Lundell's first goal of the playoffs gave the Panthers a lead, but the Lightning then scored the next two goals. Trailing 2-1 with less than four minutes left in the third, defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Seth Jones scored 11 seconds apart to give Florida the lead. Carter Verhaeghe scored an empty-net goal for the 4-2 final and moved the Panthers within one win of advancing to the second round.

April 30: Game 5, Eastern Conference First Round, Amalie Arena: Panthers 6, Lightning 3

With the game tied 3-3, Bennett scored with 4:47 remaining in the second period to give the Panthers the lead. Eetu Luostarinen added an insurance goal and Sam Reinhart's empty-netter closed the scoring to help the Panthers win the series in five games. Luostarinen had four points (one goal, three assists) and Bobrovsky made 26 saves.

May 5: Game 1, Eastern Conference Second Round, Scotiabank Arena: Maple Leafs 5, Panthers 4

The Panthers trailed 2-0 after first-period goals by William Nylander and were down 4-1 after two periods. Luostarinen and Uvis Balinskis scored early in the third to cut it to 4-3 but Florida was never able to get the tying goal. Matthew Knies gave the Maple Leafs an insurance goal late in the third. Bennett got the Panthers within 5-4 with 1:55 left but Florida came up short and trailed the series 1-0.

May 7: Game 2, Eastern Conference Second Round, Scotiabank Arena: Maple Leafs 4, Panthers 3

Despite opening the scoring and having two one-goal leads, the Panthers trailed 3-2 after two periods. Lundell tied the game at 5:33 of the third, but Mitch Marner scored 17 seconds later to break the tie. Florida found themselves trailing 2-0 in a playoff series for the first time since the 2023 Cup Final.

May 9: Game 3, Eastern Conference Second Round, Amerant Bank Arena: Panthers 5, Maple Leafs 4

It didn't look good early, trailing 2-0 and 3-1, but the Panthers rode three straight goals from Reinhart, Verhaeghe and Jonah Gadjovich to a 4-3 lead after two periods. Morgan Rielly tied the game midway through the third, but Brad Marchand scored at 15:27 of overtime to give the Panthers a much-needed win and their first victory of the series.

May 11: Game 4, Eastern Conference Second Round, Amerant Bank Arena: Panthers 2, Maple Leafs 0

Verhaeghe's first-period power-play goal was all the offense the Panthers needed. Bobrovsky made 23 saves for the shutout and helped the Panthers even the series.

May 14: Game 5, Eastern Conference Second Round, Scotiabank Arena: Panthers 6, Maple Leafs 1

In a full team effort, the Panthers got goals from six players and points from 14 skaters to cruise to a win. Ekblad and Jesper Boqvist each had a goal and an assist, and Bobrovsky made 31 saves in another strong performance to move the Panthers within a win of the conference finals.

May 16: Game 6, Eastern Conference Second Round, Amerant Bank Arena: Maple Leafs 2, Panthers 0

With a chance to clinch the series on home ice, the Panthers were unable to solve Maple Leafs goalie Joseph Woll. The game was tied after two periods, but Auston Matthews and Max Pacioretty scored in the third for Toronto, which forced a decisive Game 7.

May 18: Game 7, Eastern Conference Second Round, Scotiabank Arena: Panthers 6, Maple Leafs 1

After neither team scored in the first, the Panthers got three goals in the second from Jones, Lundell and Gadjovich for a 3-0 lead. Max Domi made it 3-1 at 2:07 of the third but Florida responded 47 seconds later with a Luostarinen goal. Luostarinen and Marchand each had a goal and two assists and Florida won Game 7 on the road to advance to the conference final for the third straight season.

May 20: Game 1, Eastern Conference Final, Lenovo Center: Panthers 5, Hurricanes 2

The Panthers got off to a quick start, with goals by Verhaeghe and Ekblad in the first 12:29 of the game to take a 2-0 lead before Sebastian Aho scored with 16 seconds left in the first. From there it was all Florida, which scored the next three goals to take a 5-1 lead. Bobrovsky made 31 saves to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead in the best-of-7 series.

May 22: Game 2, Eastern Conference Final, Lenovo Center: Panthers 5, Hurricanes 0

It took just 77 seconds before Gustav Forsling's first goal of the playoffs gave Florida a 1-0 lead. The Panthers would score twice more in the opening 20 minutes, racing out to a 3-0 lead on their first five shots of the game. Bennett scored twice, and he and Verhaeghe (three assists) each had three points. Bobrovsky made 17 saves for his third shutout of the postseason and the Panthers won another road game for a 2-0 series lead.

May 24: Game 3, Eastern Conference Final, Amerant Bank Arena: Panthers 6, Hurricanes 2

With the game tied 1-1 entering the third, Boqvist gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead 1:29 into the period. Florida would score five times in a 9:08 span, also getting goals from Niko Mikkola, Aleksander Barkov (two) and Marchand to cruise to another victory and move within a game of advancing to the Cup Final.

May 26: Game 4, Eastern Conference Final, Amerant Bank Arena: Hurricanes 3, Panthers 0

The Panthers had their first chance to advance to the Cup Final but were unable to score on Frederik Andersen, who made 20 saves. Logan Stankoven gave Carolina a 1-0 lead in the middle of the second period, and Aho and Jordan Staal each scored an empty-net goal to keep the Hurricanes alive and prevent the Panthers from moving on.

May 28: Game 5, Eastern Conference Final, Lenovo Center: Panthers 5, Hurricanes 3

The Panthers found themselves trailing 2-0 after the first period on two goals by Aho. But Tkachuk, Evan Rodrigues and Lundell scored in the second for a 3-2 Panthers lead. After Seth Jarvis tied it midway through the third, Verhaeghe's goal at 12:21 put Florida ahead. Bennett added an empty-net goal and the Panthers advanced to their third straight Cup Final.