By Kurt Dusterberg / NHL.com Independent Correspondent

May 20, 2023

RALEIGH, N.C. — Matthew Tkachuk scored at 1:51 of overtime to give the Florida Panthers a 2-1 win against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final at PNC Arena on Saturday.

Tkachuk scored 12 seconds into a power play when he buried a shot near the right post off a tic-tac-toe passing play with Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart.

It was Tkachuk’s second straight game as the overtime hero for the Panthers after he scored with 13 seconds left in the fourth overtime of a 3-2 win in Game 1 on Thursday.

Game 3 of the best-of-7 series will be in Florida on Monday.

Aleksander Barkov also scored for the Panthers, who are the second wild card from the East. Sergei Bobrovsky, who made 63 saves in Game 1, made 37 saves.

Jalen Chatfield scored for the Hurricanes, who are the No. 1 seed from the Metropolitan Division. Antti Raanta made 24 saves in his first start since Game 5 of the first round against the New York Islanders (April 25).

Chatfield gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead at 1:43 of the first period. Bobrovsky steered aside a shot from Stefan Noesen, but Sebastian Aho collected the rebound in the left circle and centered the puck to Chatfield, who redirected it just inside the right post.

Gustav Forsling appeared to tie it at 2:44, but Carolina challenged the play for offside, and the call was reversed after a video review.

Jack Drury then appeared to extend the Hurricanes’ lead at 15:56 of the first, but this time Florida challenged for offside, and again the call was reversed after a video review.

Barkov did tie the game 1-1 at 7:43 of the second period. He took a pass from Josh Mahura as he was cutting toward the net, faked a between-the-legs move, and scored with a backhand past Raanta’s outstretched glove.

Source: nhl.com