The Florida Panthers' recent win over the Carolina Hurricanes to go up 3-0 in the NHL Eastern Conference Finals puts them in lockstep with the situation that transpired 40 miles south at Kaseya Center, where the Miami Heat mounted a three-game lead over the Boston Celtics this week before the Beantown rival bounced back with a win.
From the looks of the South Florida teams' social media posts, which feature players from one home team wearing swag from the other, there is a sense that they're feeding off each other's momentum.
The Panthers' Matthew Tkachuk recently confirmed as much, saying the Heat's leader Jimmy Butler — and the similarities between the two team's unlikely playoff runs — have added fuel to the fire for the Panthers.
Tkachuk has emerged as the Panthers' clutch player, Jimmy Butler on ice, if you will. He scored two game-winning overtime goals to kick off the series against the Hurricanes, inking his name in the hockey history books as the star of one of the longest-ever NHL games.
"[The Heat] are like the underdogs and going into each series, and kind of just believing in their team," Tkachuk told the Miami Herald. "I love watching Jimmy Butler play, especially more being down in Florida, seeing him more than I ever have. I’m very impressed with him. He’s a gamer. He’s pretty dialed in with what he’s done these playoffs."
Having two home teams simultaneously battling for a title would be crazy enough. Having it happen in a year in which both snuck into the playoffs by the skin of their teeth, as eight-seeds, is a monumental development.
So Buckle up, South Florida. The Miami Heat and Florida Panthers are title-hunting.
Panthers Clawing for Stanley Cup
The Florida Panthers are eyeing a clean sweep of the Carolina Panthers Wednesday night, May 24, in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise.For a team that has been playing for its life for months now and was the final team to slip into the playoffs, the Panthers have been an unexpectedly dominant force in the conference finals. It's one of the most remarkable playoff feats South Florida sports fans have seen since, well, earlier this week when the Miami Heat did nearly the same.
Still on their home ice for tonight's matchup, the Panthers are looking to capitalize on a Game 3 win in which Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 32 shots for his first career playoff shutout, and Sam Reinhart slapped in a power-play goal, moving the Florida Panthers one win shy of their second-ever trip to the Stanley Cup Final.
With team captain Sasha Barkov out for all but the first seven minutes of the game due to a lower-leg injury, the focus all night long for the Panthers was fighting off offensive bursts from the Hurricanes while picking the rights spots to capitalize.
Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky told reporters the team is riding high, but there is still work to be done.
"We’re happy with the 'W.' We’re happy with the win, but the next game is going to be a big game," Bobrovsky said.
According to the AP, the Panthers' 3-0 lead is the 205th time an NHL team has taken a 3-0 lead in the NHL Playoffs, and 200 of those teams have moved on to the next round.
That's all to say the Panthers would have to fall prey to a major meltdown to drop the series at this point.
LFG @FlaPanthers! 3-0 series lead! pic.twitter.com/L56lnf6Wft
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) May 23, 2023
The Last One's the Hardest
The Celtics showed signs of life in Game 4, battling back from an early deficit on the Heat's home court.After the Heat led for much of the game, the Celtics went on an 18-0 run in the second half and pulled away with a 116-99 win to put the series at 3-1.
"We always say the last one to get is the hardest," said the Heat's Bam Adebayo.
The teams will head back to Boston to do battle at TD Garden for Game 5 on Thursday, May 25.
The Heat have history on their side: No team has ever come back to win a seven-game NBA playoff series after falling back 3-0 as the Celtics did.
In the postgame conference, Butler shrugged off a question about whether the Celtics' stay-alive win would build momentum for the Heat rival.
"At the end of the day, you fall back on your habits, how consistent you're going to be," Butler said. "Myself and my teammates, we're gong to do the same thing. We're going to smile, we're going to be in this thing together like we always are. And we're going to go get one on the road."
