Tkachuk, Panthers top Hurricanes again in OT, lead series 2-0

By Brian Murphy, WRAL sports reporter

Raleigh, N.C. — The Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers needed overtime again Saturday night.

But unlike the four-overtime marathon in Game 1, the Panthers and Matthew Tkacuk needed less than two minutes to win Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final. Tkachuk scored a power-play goal 1:51 into overtime to give Florida a 2-1 win and a 2-0 series lead.

The teams played the sixth-longest game in NHL history in Thursday's Game 1 Game 3 is Monday in Sunrise, Florida.

"I thought we had the better of it, just haven't found a way to score," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "That's just it. It's just tough when you're right there."

Carolina's Jesper Kotkaniemi took a hooking penalty early in overtime to stop a Florida scoring chance.

The Panthers wasted little time in scoring the winner. It was Tkachuk's seventh goal of the postseason. Carolina's defense pairing of Brent Burns and Jacob Slavin got tangled with each other in the corner on the play.

As he did after his game-winner in Game 1, Tkachuk went to the glass and motioned for his teammates to get off the ice.

"The old 'Bus in 10' celebration," Tkachuk said. "Let's get out of here. It's been a lot of hockey the last two games."

Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who made 63 saves in Game 1, stopped 37 shots in Game 2, including 19 in the first period where Carolina held the edge in action. Bobrovsky kept the game tied at 1 in the second period with a terrific save on Teuvo Teravainen, who was open at the far post. Bobrovsky moved across the crease to stop the shot, but Teravainen didn't get it close enough to the post.

"He's been great. There's no way around it," Brind'Amour said. "I think tonight we saw an empty net. We all thought it went in, and he made a great save. So he's making great saves for sure. Like I said, it bounces our way there we could have been up 2-0."

Carolina took a 1-0 lead in the first period on a goal by Jalen Chatfield. Chatfield redirected a pass from from Sebastian Aho past Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky less than two minutes into the game.

Each team had a goal erased on an offsides challenge in the first.

Florida's Aleksander Barkov scored with 12:17 left in the second period to tie Game 2. Barkov was all alone in front of the net, moving the puck from forehand to backhand, faking between his legs, and then getting it over Carolina goaltender Antti Raanta.

But Barkov's puck-handling and score earned high praise from Florida teammates, coach Paul Maurice and TNT commentators, including Wayne Gretzky.

"He pulled that move because that was the only move that was going to work," Maurice said. "So when it went through his legs, he decided it wasn't going to go and made the best move he could. I've never seen that."

Carolina turned Ranta for Game 2 and he saved 24 of 26 shots.

Goaltender Frederik Anderson played every second of Thursday night's four-overtime loss. He was often spectacular in making 57 saves.

Raanta started the first five games on the playoffs for Carolina against the New York Islanders, going 3-2 with a 2.59 goals against average. The 34-year-old played in 27 regular-season games for the Hurricanes, going 19-3-3 with a 2.23 goals against average.

Tkachuk scored the game-winner with 12.7 seconds left in the fourth overtime Thursday night. The winner of the best-of-seven series advances to the Stanley Cup Final.