Florida Panthers ruthless with Carolina Hurricanes in NHL conference final

The defending champion Florida Panthers are headed to their third consecutive NHL Final. On Saturday, in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final, they soundly defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 6-2. The score was only 1-1 going into the final period. Finland's Niko Mikkola opened the scoring for Florida after fifteen minutes, and Logan Stankoven tied it for Carolina in the second period.

But in the final period, the Panthers came out swinging, scoring five goals in ten minutes, through Jesper Boqvist, Mikkola again, Aleksander Barkov (two), and Brad Marchand. The Hurricanes saved their honor through Seth Jarvis. The Florida franchise played without Sam Reinhart, one of its top forwards, who was injured in the previous game with a lower body injury.

Game 3 will take place on Monday in Miami. If the Panthers win, they will advance to the finals.