It didn’t end up being a sweep of the Hurricanes like in 2023, did it? Carolina finally stopped the Panthers’ charge, that too in Florida. But that’s not all. With their backs against the wall, the Hurricanes stepped up so hard, they shut out the defending Stanley Cup Champions from scoring on their own home ice. And Matthew Tkachuk knows who the Carolina culprit responsible for this is. In fact, he’s rallying his teammates to make special arrangements for the Hurricanes D-man when they meet for Game 5.

Just hours remaining before they enter the Lenovo Center on May 27, and Sr. Digital Content Manager for the Florida Panthers, Jameson Olive, made the following tweet: “Tkachuk on Slavin, who played 28 minutes in Game 4: “We’ve got to make it harder on him if he’s going to play that much. He’s been incredible, not only this round but all year. … Definitely a guy we’ve got to key on and a very tough player to play against.”

Well, Tkachuk is right about their opponents’ resolute D-zone and their leader, Jaccob Slavin. The 31-year-old was inspired against the Panthers in Game 4. During his time on the ice at full strength, his team had a 23-12 shot-attempt advantage as well as a 1-0 scoring edge, as per The Athletic. During that time, do you know what ‘expected goals for’ the Hurricanes conceded? 0.18.

That’s right, the Hurricanes were a wall when Slavin was on the ice. And he was there also for the 6:10 minutes of the 8 penalty kill minutes. Well, you might be thinking, how can Slavin be alone credited for the job well done by the team? Oh, you ain’t wrong. The Hurricanes won as a team, but it’s Slavin who has been the difference. Of all the players in the roster, he is the guy with the highest +/- score in the postseason with 10. And he has only 2 goals and 2 assists.

And in the regular season, he is joint-2nd in that score with 16. Kudos to the man who inspired the Hurricanes to end their 15-game losing streak in the Conference Championship Round. But, unfortunately, Jaccob Slavin’s duties aren’t done yet. He has to put in another Herculean shift, and as long as he can to keep the Hurricanes alive in the 2024-25 season.

And Slavin’s heroics won’t be enough, even. The Panthers are almost full-strength again.

Sam Reinhart expected to join Matthew Tkachuk and co. to test Jaccob Slavin

Soon after Jameson Olive’s update about Tkachuk and Slavin, the Panthers content manager dropped another update. And this one is what the fans have been waiting for. Sam Reinhart is set to be available. And along with him, so are Niko Mikkola and A. J. Greer. Basically, unless there is any new injury update, the Panthers go into Game 5 full-strength.

Oh, they didn’t like how Game 4 went, did they? Panthers forward Sam Bennett thought they had less bite in that game, compared to the previous ones. “Uh, I think just a little jump. I think we were a little hesitant tonight. The last three games we were aggressive, we had more pace for a game, more jump, and I think just a little, sitting back a little bit tonight,” the Panthers’ playoff top-scorer said after the game.

And maybe the Cats missed someone like Sam Reinhart, the regular-season top scorer. But an argument can be made that Reinhart was there in the first 2 games of the Conference series, and he didn’t influence the scoreboards. Well, maybe credit goes to Jaccob Slavin again. In fact, Sam Bennett was there in Game 3. Along with Matthew Tkachuk, Brad Marchand, and Aleksander Barkov. And Slavin didn’t flinch.

Nevertheless, it’s a new game, and the Panthers are coming to the Lenovo Center. Only one thing on their mind – to wrap up the Eastern Conference Final. The question is, will the Canes let them?