The horn sounded to signal a third straight trip to the Stanley Cup final, and the Florida Panthers celebrated with a subdued celebration more befitting a regular-season win for the reigning champs.
“I remember a few years ago, it felt like such an accomplishment from where we were at one point,” forward Matthew Tkachuk said, adding: “It’s all business and we’ve got a bigger goal in mind.”
The Panthers closed out the Carolina Hurricanes in five games on Wednesday night with a 5-3 victory in the Eastern Conference final, pushing ahead for good when Carter Verhaeghe broke a tie off a feed from Aleksander Barkov with 7:39 left.
Florida beat the Hurricanes in the Eastern final for the second time in three seasons. The…