"Easiest sweep by a mile"; "Completely pathetic": Hurricanes slammed by fans for 5-0 shutout loss to Panthers in Game 2 of ECFs

The Carolina Hurricanes were slammed by fans online after suffering an embarrassing 5-0 shutout loss against the Florida Panthers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals on Thursday night.

The Hurricanes now trail the series 2-0 against the Panthers. Sam Bennett (two goals), Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov and Gustav Forsling scored for Florida. Meanwhile, Sergei Bobrovsky had 17 saves for the shutout.

On the other side, Frederik Andersen was pulled after allowing four goals on just 16 shots. Pyotr Kochetkov stopped three shots in relief.

Fans did not hold back in criticizing the Hurricanes' performance on X/Twitter, with one fan tweeting:

"Easiest sweep by a mile.

Another fan said:

"Completely pathetic @Canes,"

Here are some more reactions from fans on X:

"I don't know what the hell kind of effort that was tonight but it was just downright embarrassing. We have got to do better than this!" one fan wrote.

"LOSERS! Took no risks out there. Brind’Amour Couldn’t even shuffle the lines. Totally Out coached/outplayed. Pathetic team," another fan said.

"The Players Tribune article by Aho had me thinking this team was different, and to be fair he really did look like one of the few actually trying. But there’s no effort outside of him and Jarvis. Just heartbreaking," another fan commented.

"I think coach needs to bring the eggs out and go mighty ducks on their ass at practice," another fan wrote.

Carolina now dropped 14 straight games across their last three trips — each ending in a sweep.

The series now shifts to Florida for Game 3 on Saturday.

Game Recap: Hurricanes lose 5-0 against Panthers

Florida scored early with just 1:17 into the game after Matthew Tkachuk set up Gustav Forsling, who beat Frederik Andersen with a quick snapshot for a 1-0 lead.

Tkachuk doubled the lead midway through the first, finishing off a feed from Carter Verhaeghe. Sam Bennett then redirected a Verhaeghe shot on the power play at 15:50 to make it 3-0.

Bennett added his second of the night late in the second period, cleaning up a rebound at the post after Andersen denied Verhaeghe’s initial wraparound attempt.

In the third, Aleksander Barkov capped off the scoring by tipping in Aaron Ekblad’s point shot on another power play, sealing a dominant 5-0 win for the Panthers.

Game 3 between the Panthers and Hurricanes takes place at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.