Carolina Hurricanes Were swept by the Florida Panthers in the NHL̵7;s Eastern Conference Finals – but don’t tell that to your head coach.
Rod Brind’Amour spoke to reporters after the Hurricanes’ season ended, and despite the box score, he doesn’t want assumptions about his team ended in disgrace,
“The unfortunate part of this is we’re going to look back and everyone is saying you got swept up and that didn’t happen,” Brind’Amore said. “I saw the game. I’m there. We’re in the game. We haven’t lost four games.”
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Referee Wes McCauley talks with Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Wednesday. (Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)
In fact, he lost four straight games – but he elaborated on his point.
“We lost, but we were there,” he said. “It could have gone the other way. It could have gone four games the other way.”
In that sense he is definitely right. Game 1 was the sixth longest game in NHL history, as it was a quadruple-overtime thriller. Game 2 also ended in overtime. Game 3 was a 1–0 victory for the Panthers, and the fourth and final game was 4.6 seconds away from going into overtime until Matthew Tkachuk found the back of the net, giving Florida a 4–3 win and the sweep. (Tkachuk also scored both overtime winners in the series.)
Florida Panthers center Alexander Barkov, left, and left wing Matthew Tkachuk on Wednesday in Sunrise, Fla. Retained the Prince of Wales Trophy after winning Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Carolina Hurricanes. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
The Hurricanes became just the seventh team in NHL history to win a series and lose each game by just one goal. The last time this happened was in 2018, when the Los Angeles Kings dropped their series to the Vegas Golden Knights, who eventually lost to the Washington Capitals in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Carolina Hurricanes Head Coach Rod Brind’Amour looks on during the first period of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Monday. (Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)
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Panthers ready to appear In their first Cup Finals appearance since 1996 and the Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars await the winner of a series in which Vegas leads three games to none.