Sam Bennett recorded two goals and an assist while leading the Florida Panthers to a 5-0 win over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals on Thursday in Raleigh, N.C.
Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and an assist and Carter Verhaeghe added three assists for the Panthers, who lead the series 2-0. Gustav Forsling and Aleksander Barkov also scored, and Aaron Ekblad and Evan Rodrigues each notched two assists.
Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky made 17 saves for his third shutout of the postseason.
Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen allowed four goals on 16 shots before he was replaced by Pyotr Kochetkov to start the third period. Andersen yielded all of the Panthers’ goals in a 5-2 defeat on Tuesday.
Kochetkov turned aside four of the five shots he faced.
Game 3 of the best-of-seven series will be played Saturday in Sunrise, Fla.
Forsling gave Florida a 1-0 lead at 1:17 of the first period, taking a short feed from Tkachuk to the top of the slot and snapping it past Andersen’s glove.
Tkachuk made it 2-0 at 11:41 of the first. Verhaeghe retrieved a pass behind the net and cut out to the front to try to beat Bobrovsky, but his shot slid under Bobrovsky’s stick and across the crease to Tkachuk for the tip-in.
Bennett deflected Verhaeghe’s shot on a power play to push the margin to 3-0 at 15:50 of the first.
Sebastian Aho appeared to get Carolina on the board 51 seconds into the second period, but the Panthers challenged for offside, and the goal was overturned after a video review.
The Hurricanes had one of their few chances on a two-on-one with 3 1/2 minutes remaining in the middle period, but Seth Jarvis’ pass attempt to William Carrier was denied by a diving stick block from Forsling.
That prompted repeated chants of “Shoot the puck” from the crowd, with Carolina stuck on seven shots on goal.
Bennett’s second of the night extended the gap to 4-0 with 39 seconds left in the second frame. Verhaeghe looped around the net and the puck rolled off his stick over to Bennett on the other side, where he put a snap shot past Andersen’s left skate.
Barkov deflected Ekblad’s shot past Kochetkov’s glove on a power play at 13:49 of the third period for the final tally.
Florida winger Sam Reinhart left the game in the first period after sustaining a lower-body injury on a hit from Aho.
