Florida Panthers (47-31-4, in the Atlantic Division) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (47-30-5, in the Metropolitan Division)

Florida began the Eastern Conference Final in the Stanley Cup playoffs with a 5-2 victory, adding to its success from 2023.

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Jalen Chatfield is day to day and questionable for the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Florida Panthers at Lenovo Center on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).

Just 48 hours after beating Toronto in Game 7, Florida became the first team in these playoffs to win in Carolina.

After a dominant 6-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 7 of the second round, the Florida Panthers' offense kept rolling into the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Florida Panthers grabbed a 5-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, but it wasn’t all routine. A third-period incident involving Brad Marchand and Shayne Gostisbehere sparked the first controversy of the series.

Late in the Panthers ' 5-2 win, Marchand narrowly missed Gostisbehere with a big hit, which the latter apparently didn't appreciate. Just seconds later, Gostisbehere had the puck in the neutral zone when he seemed to wind and fire a wrist shot into the midsection of Marchand on purpose.