Hurricanes Will Pull Even In NHL Playoffs Series With Panthers

• What: NHL Playoffs.
• Who: Florida Panthers at Carolina Hurricanes
• When: Wednesday, May 22, 8:00 p.m.

In the second round of the NHL playoffs, the Florida Panthers rallied from a 2-0 series deficit to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs. The difference being, those opening two losses came on the road.

Thursday, the Carolina Hurricanes are clashing with the Panthers down 1-0 in the Eastern Conference final. However, entering Game 2, the Hurricanes are facing the possibility of dropping the first two games of the best-of-seven set on home ice. That's generally a recipe for disaster.

Oddsmakers don't see things unfolding that way. It's the Hurricanes who are set as -130 home favorites entering Game 2.

Let's look at the latest betting line on this game. , odds are subject to change.

At the outset in NHL playoffs future wagering, the Panthers were set as the -128 chalk to win this series and move on to the Stanley Cup final. That betting line has grown to -250 following Florida's Game 1 victory.

Best NHL Playoffs Picks For You

Before we take a deeper dive into checking out the best bets on the NHL playoffs for Game 2 of this Panthers vs Hurricanes Eastern Conference final series, why not look into our inclusive Stanley Cup futures page.

Panthers vs Hurricanes Betting Trends

The Hurricanes have won three of the past six games against the Panthers. On home ice, though, Carolina is 2-6 straight up in the past eight games against Florida.

Overall, the Panthers are 13-5 SU in the last 18 games facing the Hurricanes. Against all teams, Florida is 5-1 SU in the past six games. The Panthers are 9-4 SU in the club's past 13 games against Eastern Conference opposition.

Carolina is 8-3 SU in the club's past 11 games. The Hurricanes are 9-2 SU through the last 11 games on home ice. Against Eastern Conference opposition, Carolina is 12-10 SU through the past 22 games.

Florida's 5-2 Game 1 win marked just the second time in six games between the Panthers and Hurricanes that the total has gone over. Six of the past eight games between the two teams played at Carolina hit on the under.

Nine of Florida's last 11 games went over on the total. In each of the past six road games played by the Panthers, the over was also the winning play on the total.

Four of Carolina's last six games went under. Four of the last seven home games played by the Hurricanes were also coming in under the total.

The Hurricanes are 52-33-6 SU as a betting favorite this season. Carolina is 28-19 against the puck line as a home team. Florida is 24-25 against the puck line as the road club. The Panthers are 10-7 SU as the underdog in the betting line.

Different Hero Every Night For Panthers

In Game 1, Carter Verhaeghe netted a goal and an assist for the Panthers, while Evan Rodrigues and Tomas Nosek were each contributing a pair of assists. That's been the story throughout the NHL playoffs for Florida. Every game night it seems, different players are stepping up to show the way.

The #FlaPanthers are averaging 3.85 goals/game this postseason.

They have 17 players with at least 1 goal, 13 with at least 2.

But what might be more incredible: They haven't had a player with a multi-goal game since Game 1 vs Tampa when both Tkachuk and Schmidt scored twice.

— Jordan Mherson (@J_Mherson1126) May 21, 2025

A total of 11 Florida skaters had at least one point in the Game 1 triumph. During the playoffs, 17 different Panthers have scored a goal, while 17 players have also accumulated a minimum of three points.

The Panthers have scored 38 goals in their first eight road games this postseason. That's tied with the 2022 Colorado Avalanche for the most in NHL playoffs history.

Hurricanes Must End Conference Final Skid

No one has to convince Carolina that 13 is an unlucky number. With their 5-2 Game 1 loss to the Panthers, the Hurricanes have now dropped 13 consecutive Eastern Conference final games.

The Canes have now lost 13 straight Conference Final games dating back to 2009 😳

2009: Swept by Penguins
2019: Swept by Bruins
2023: Swept by Panthers
2025: Lost Game 1 to Panthers pic.twitter.com/6Cy6h46hC9

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 21, 2025

The last nine of those losses have all come with current coach Rod Brind'Amour behind the bench. In seven of those nine losses, Carolina has given up the first goal of the game and that's a significant stat. In these NHL playoffs, the Hurricanes are 5-0 SU when they score first and 3-3 SU when they do not. During the regular season, Carolina went 30-7-2 SU when scoring first. The Canes were 17-23-3 SU when the opponents got the game's first goal.

Florida vs Carolina NHL Playoffs Picks

At some point, the Hurricanes have to win a game in the conference final, right? This is too good of a team to keep losing such significant contests, especially on home ice.

Often, the easiest way to make a play when wagering is to look at which team has more to lose by losing. Certainly in this cases, that team is Carolina. To go down 2-0 would be akin to writing an epitaph. Go with the Hurricanes to beat the Panthers and draw even in this series in the NHL playoffs picks.