Hurricanes suffer 14th straight loss in a conference final as Panthers take 2-0 series lead

The defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers are rolling. The Carolina Hurricanes are reeling.

Sam Bennett scored one of his two goals in Florida's three-goal first period, Sergei Bobrovsky made 17 saves and the Panthers beat the Hurricanes 5-0 on Thursday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference final.

Gustav Forsling and Matthew Tkachuk also scored in another tone-setting opening 20 minutes for the Panthers, while Carter Verhaeghe had three assists.

"It might have been natural for us to take a little bit to get going tonight, and it was the exact opposite," said Tkachuk, whose putaway off the feed from Verhaeghe at the crease marked his first goal since Game 3 of the first round against Tampa Bay.

"It was an unreal start from us. The goals aside, just the way we played in the first period was as good as it gets. Yeah, that's just a hell of a road trip."

"Pretty much an a**-whooping, all the way through the lineup."<br><br>Jordan Staal speaks to the media following the Canes' 5-0 loss in Game 2. <a href="https://t.co/5khAE3kxot">pic.twitter.com/5khAE3kxot</a>

Florida had already ripped home-ice advantage away Tuesday night with a 5-2 win, the opener in a rematch of the 2023 conference final swept by the Panthers with four one-goal wins. Florida only tightened its grip on the series with this one, and now heads back south to host Game 3 on Saturday night.

Bennett scored a second time by skating in to clean up an attempt at the right post in the final minute of the second period to make it 4-0, ending a long shift in Carolina's end prolonged by Hurricanes defenceman Brent Burns being stuck on the ice after breaking his stick. Aleksander Barkov added a goal midway through the third as punctuation.

Bobrovsk