Same old sunshine, same old story for the Florida Panthers, because once again, the road to the Stanley Cup is making its annual pit stop in the land of palm trees and panther roars. Just when it looked like things might slip through their claws, down by two goals after a shaky, headache-inducing first period, the Cats turned up the heat in the second like it was backyard BBQ season. Three rapid-fire goals later, they’d flipped the script on the Hurricanes, and even though Carolina tried to stir up some late-game drama, Florida held firm and shut that comeback dream down with a 5-3 win in Game 5. Boom; Prince of Wales Trophy, secured for the third season in a row. That’s not just dominance, that’s dynasty energy brewing in the swamp.
This wasn’t just another W; it was history in motion. It was Florida’s first ever multi-goal comeback to seal a series win, and they joined a rare club as only the fifth team in the past 30 years to pull off a clutch rally like that to punch a ticket to the Stanley Cup Final. Oh, and if that wasn’t already sparkly enough? The Panthers just became the seventh team since the 1967-68 expansion to make it to three straight Finals, something only legends like the ’80s Islanders have pulled off since. But for Carolina? Whew. One brutal miscue and now they’re catching heat from every direction, especially from NHL analysts who aren’t holding back.
In a fiery clip shared by Sportsnet on X, the NHL analysts didn’t hold back; they were deep in their feelings and breaking down that game-changing moment. The question tossed into the chaos? “What tipped everything?” And well, one of them came right out with it: “That penalty, I couldn’t believe it. Kelly will be surprised to hear this. I was on the phone when it happened. I looked up and I saw it. That’s not human perfection. No, that’s definitely not.” Things went downhill fast after that. “Sixteen seconds later comes the first goal. And then 30 seconds after that comes the second goal.” Just like that, all the momentum Carolina built got wiped clean like a bad save file.
And then Jesperi Kotkaniemi? He barely got a whiff of the ice; just “three shifts after that happened. For a combined 3-0-6.” The guy got roasted by the analysts, who were floored that he still got time on the power play. The mood in the studio was all kinds of stunned. “That was, like, such a dumb thing to do when you have all the momentum,” one of them said. The shock didn’t stop there. One analyst added, “I even made a comment that he was out for his next shift, which really surprised me.” With Coach Brind’Amour breathing fire behind the bench, it felt wild that he didn’t just bench him for good.
“It’s not like just a turnover or some other mistake, that was such a dumb thing to do.”
The panel discusses Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s penalty that tipped the momentum Florida’s way. pic.twitter.com/pXPX4Io6oK
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 29, 2025
But then came the bigger question: “Are you sitting there and saying, as mad as I am about this guy, am I hurting my team’s chances to win if I take a potentially key forward out against this team?” They even pulled out playoff throwbacks, saying, “I felt like Craig Berube went back to Max Domi time and again earlier on in the Stanley Cup playoffs.” So yeah, the room was full of doubt, some sympathy, and a whole lotta ‘What just happened?!’ vibes.
This story is developing…
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