The Florida Panthers opened the Eastern Conference Final with a dominant 5-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh on Tuesday night. This marked Carolina's first home loss in six playoff games.

The Panthers established control early, scoring two first-period goals. Carter Verhaeghe opened the scoring on a power play, followed by Aaron Ekblad, who extended the lead to 2-0. While Sebastian Aho pulled one back for the Hurricanes late in the first, deflecting a shot past Sergei Bobrovsky, the Panthers continued to dictate play.

A.J. Greer restored Florida's two-goal lead in the second period, and Sam Bennett further solidified their advantage with a power-play goal in the third. Eetu Luostarinen added another goal for the Panthers before Jackson Blake scored a late power-play marker for Carolina, making it a 5-2 final.

Sergei Bobrovsky was stellar in net for Florida, making 31 saves, while Frederik Andersen stopped 15 shots for the Hurricanes. The Panthers' ability to score on the power play against Carolina's strong penalty kill, along with their offensive depth, were key storylines in their commanding Game 1 win.

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