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How can anxiety last this long?
By midnight it was still going. Tiring, but peppy announcers quipped that Game 2 between the Panthers and Hurricanes was technically tomorrow as the calendar flipped over. It was an amusing observation that cut through playoff hockey anxiety. By 1 a.m. it stopped being funny. By 2 a.m. every minute felt like an hour. Dead legs and broken bodies shuffling themselves around the ice out of sheer will alone, before Matthew Tkachuk became an angel or mercy, finally putting the puck in the net and ending the torment.
The 4OT marathon between the Panthers and Hurricanes in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals didn’t showcase the beauty of hockey, its grace, or finesse. Instead it was two punch-drunk boxers stumbling around, throwing the occasional haymaker while everyone watching just prayed the suffering would end.
If there’s anything to be learned from the agony of this game it’s that Florida and Carolina are so unbelievably well matched that this series won’t be about prowess, but survival. For the first 40 minutes the Hurricanes played their worst hockey of the postseason, being sluggish on the forecheck and failing to create any real offense outside of a lone power play goal. Meanwhile the Panthers’ second line, normally a huge strength because of Tkachuk, was vastly less effective that it normally is.
Defense and goaltending was the story of the game, and what turned Game 1 into the slog it was, albeit in very different ways. Carolina’s defense dominated one-on-one play, with their superior skating backs shut down opportunities before they materialized, while the Panthers excelled at supporting Sergei Bobrovsky in net, ensuring no loose pucks or second chances went the Canes’ way.
This dynamic is what pushed the game to overtime, and what kept it locked there for another three hours. Ice times crept past 40 minutes, then 50 minutes — the skating stats were ludicrous, with a majority of players covering over 8 MILES of ice in the six hours since the game began.
Children were asleep in the stands, flanked by weary parents who expected to have them in bed three hours earlier. The arena DJ had to find something, anything in his library that hadn’t already been played. The NHL on TNT crew ran out of analysis, stopping for snacks live on the air, unable to even laugh about the ridiculousness of it all. When the third overtime ended, all the PA announcer could do was apologize.
There’s something beautiful about watching sports in the stillness of the night. Waking up to watch an overseas event in a different timezone. It feels cheeky and roguish, stepping outside in the pitch black with a fresh cup of coffee while everyone is fast asleep. It’s very different when a game has been going six hours, with no end in sight, as you’re too tired to even be riddled with the anxiety of playoff hockey anymore.
Even Carolina’s mascot looked like he was trapped in another dimension, experiencing hell on earth.
What did we learn from Game 1? What could we really learn? Well, if we didn’t know before we sure as hell do now that the Panthers are 100 percent up to the task of hanging with the Hurricanes. This shouldn’t be a surprise when you go through the Bruins and Maple Leafs to get here, but it was fair to wonder how Florida’s bruising, grinding style would match up with Carolina’s puck-moving finesse and array of offensive defensemen.
Florida’s top line of Carter Verhaeghe, Aleksander Barkov and Anthony Duclair dominated their equivalents in Carolina. Duclair in particular has been a breath of fresh air to the line and is playing his best hockey at the most important time. Meanwhile it’s become clear how much the Hurricanes are missing Andrei Svechnikov and it’s led to Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis overthinking at times, forcing plays where they don’t exist.
There’s no doubt that winning in Raleigh, especially in that way was mammoth for the Panthers. Carolina’s home-ice advantages is one of the strongest in hockey, and out-lasting the Canes brings this to parity. It also brings a huge psychological advantage, and all the momentum is now with Florida. They’ll be riding into Game 2 on a high, while the Hurricanes will be desperate to leave Raleigh with this series tied. That’s a lot of pressure when you’re set to play after that 4OT thriller.
It’s impossible to know where this series goes from here. The only thing that is clear is that it won’t be easy. The only thing that can break the parity we saw in Game 1 is momentum, and we’ll wait to see if Florida can capitalize on Saturday night. One thing is certain: If we get more games in this series like its opener, then God help the players and fans for trying to endure it.
