The Florida Panthers have been the surprise of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, barely qualifying for the postseason before knocking off the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs in back-to-back Eastern Conference upsets to set up a date with the Carolina Hurricanes.

A huge part of that success has come on the road, where the Panthers are an incredible 6-1 in these playoffs.

On Thursday night, they'll have the opportunity to match the second-longest road win streak in Stanley Cup Playoffs history if they can beat the NHL's second-best regular season team in Game 1.

They already took out the first-place team, a Bruins squad that broke all kinds of records and was considered the greatest regular season team in history. The Panthers were down 3-1 in that series and already written off by the hockey world, before stringing together three straight wins against a seemingly unbeatable Boston team.

They followed that up with three straight wins against the Leafs, two on the road, before winning the series at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto in Game 5.

It's been nothing short of an incredible run for the South Florida franchise, who didn't even qualify for the playoffs until the waning days of the regular season.

Both forward Matthew Tkachuk and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky are putting together Conn Smythe worthy performances, but the Panthers will play their toughest defensive opponent yet in Round 3, a Carolina team that is very difficult to score goals on.

The Hurricanes won the Metropolitan Division title in 2022-23, but the Panthers were the league's best team last season, winning the President's Trophy in 2021-22 before losing a tight series to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

It's the first ever playoff meeting between the two Sun Belt franchises; the Hurricanes will be looking to return to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2006, while the Panthers will be looking to replicate their 1996 Stanley Cup Final run.

If Florida can continue their road dominance, they'll have a great chance, but Carolina is 5-1 at PNC Arena this postseason. Something will have to give beginning on Thursday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final.