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MATTHEW TKACHUK AND THE FLORIDA PANTHERS
Matthew Tkachuk did it again. Seriously. With Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final tied 3-3 and only 4.3 seconds left in regulation, Tkachuk fired the puck past Carolina Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen for a goal that both won the game and punched the Florida Panthers' ticket to the Stanley Cup Final.
Florida has won the Prince of Wales Trophy for the first time since 1996 after budging their way into the Stanley Cup Playoffs by a single point. That just barely begins to encapsulate just how wild this Panthers run has been.
The Panthers (28%) are the only team in the NHL's expansion era to make the postseason after holding a playoff spot for under 30% for the season, and they join the 2017 Predators as the only Wild Card teams to reach the Stanley Cup Final. In the first round, Florida came back from a 3-1 deficit to eliminate the Presidents' Trophy-winning Boston Bruins, a team that set NHL records in regular-season wins (65) and points (135). Tkachuk has 21 goals in 16 games this postseason, and he helped the Panthers sweep the Hurricanes by scoring three of the four-game winners and assisting on Sam Reinhart's in Game 3. The game-winner Tkachuk scored to eliminate the Hurricanes last night tied an NHL record for the latest series-winner in regulation.If this story kind of sounds familiar, it's because it's not that different from what the Miami Heat are currently doing in the NBA playoffs.
The Panthers now await the winner of the Western Conference Final, a series that's been similarly lopsided. The Vegas Golden Knights have a commanding 3-0 lead over the Stars and can eliminate Dallas on Thursay.
