Carolina and Florida square off to open the third round
Florida Panthers (47-31-4, in the Atlantic Division) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (47-30-5, in the Metropolitan Division)
Raleigh, North Carolina; Tuesday, 8 p.m. EDT
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Hurricanes -123, Panthers +103; over/under is 5.5
STANLEY CUP SEMIFINALS: Hurricanes host series opener
BOTTOM LINE: The Carolina Hurricanes host the Florida Panthers to start the Eastern Conference finals. The teams meet Thursday for the fourth time this season. The Panthers went 2-1 against the Hurricanes in the regular season. In their last regular season matchup on Jan. 2, the Hurricanes won 3-1.
Carolina has a 36-9-1 record in home games and a 47-30-5 record overall. The Hurricanes have scored 266 total goals (3.2 per game) to rank ninth in the league.
Florida has a 25-21-2 record in road games and a 47-31-4 record overall. The Panthers are 23-10-0 in games their opponents serve more penalty minutes.
TOP PERFORMERS: Sebastian Aho has scored 29 goals with 45 assists for the Hurricanes. Martin Necas has one goal and nine assists over the past 10 games.
Sam Reinhart has 39 goals and 42 assists for the Panthers. Anton Lundell has four goals and six assists over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Hurricanes: 8-1-1, averaging 3.4 goals, 5.2 assists, 3.6 penalties and 8.2 penalty minutes while giving up 1.7 goals per game.
Panthers: 6-4-0, averaging 3.7 goals, 6.4 assists, 4.8 penalties and 15 penalty minutes while giving up 2.6 goals per game.
INJURIES: Hurricanes: None listed.
Panthers: None listed.
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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