One team is a win away from advancing to a third straight Stanley Cup Final. The other is about to once again come up short in a conference final. Drastic as that sounds, that is the reality facing the Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes following the Panthers' 6-2 win Saturday in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals.
The defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers opened the series by scoring five goals in each game and exposing the Hurricanes in a way that hadn't been done by another team this postseason. At first, it appeared that the Canes may have found a solution as they entered the third period tied at 1-1 .