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The Carolina Hurricanes have finally broken the curse, winning an Eastern Conference Final game for the first time since 2006. But they still have a long way to go — they'll need to win a game at home against the Florida Panthers to extend the series, a place they've been outscored 10-2 over two contests.
Still, Charles Barkley has faith that the Canes will beat the Cats and send the series back to Florida for a Game 6.
“Shoutout to the Hurricanes coming back last night after being down 3-0, now we going back to Carolina,” Barkley said during halftime of Game 4 between the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks.
“Let me tell you something, they're going back to Sunrise, because the Hurricanes are gonna win tomorrow. We going back to Sunrise 3-2.”
Barkley has faith, but it's going to be easier said than done considering the Panthers have only lost consecutive games once in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, back at the beginning of Round 2 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Carolina needs to find the level at home it had in the first two rounds of the playoffs, when the squad went 3-0 on home ice against the New Jersey Devils in Round 1, and 2-0 against the Washington Capitals in the second round.
Hurricanes desperate to get a win in front of home fans
Hurricanes fans haven't seen a home win in the Eastern Conference Final since the group marched all the way to a Stanley Cup championship back in 2006.
But Wednesday night presents an excellent opportunity to do just that.
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“We've matured a lot over the four years I've been here. When we have a lead, we're comfortable with how we're playing,” said forward Seth Jarvis, who has four points in the series, per NHL.com's Kurt Dusterberg. “We don't really change anything. We know teams are going to push, but we stick to our guns. That's one big difference I've seen this year compared to years past.”
“It goes back to finding the recipe that we found last game,” echoed Jordan Martinook. “Play with the compete. Every guy was focused on winning the 50/50 puck battles, trying to do everything you can to win. Obviously when your back's up against the wall, you need to do that a lot more than the other team.”
After being swept in back-to-back-to-back East Finals, the Hurricanes have finally won a game in the final four. But the defending Stanley Cup champions know what's at stake, and they'll want to close out the series at the Lenovo Center.
Carolina is going to need another heroic performance from Frederik Andersen; he had been the best goalie in the playoffs before being absolutely shelled in Games 1 and 2.
After Pyotr Kochetkov got the Game 3 start, Andersen was back between the pipes in Game 4 — and he posted his second shutout of the postseason.
“We wanted to leave it all out there and play our best game,” Andersen said after the triumph. “We were rewarded for it. I love playing with this team, so, happy to be getting another shot. We were closer to our game, and we’re a pretty good team when we play our game. We need more of that.”
The Hurricanes' season is once again on the line, and it'll be intriguing to see if they can extend the series for at least 48 more hours. Puck is set to drop from Raleigh just past 8:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday night.
