Panthers' Matthew Tkachuk makes his opinion known about rival Jaccob Slavin as Hurricanes hold off elimination

Jaccob Slavin and the Carolina Hurricanes lived to see another day with a 3-0 shutout win in Game 4 against the Florida Panthers on Monday night.

After three blowout losses to begin the series, the hockey world had counted the Hurricanes out, assuming the Panthers would finish the sweep.

While it had been a disastrous Eastern Conference Finals thus far, Carolina showed some resilience to force a Game 5 back home in Raleigh on Wednesday night.

One of, if not the main reason for the win was the play of star defenseman Jaccob Slavin. The 31-year-old put on a clinic defensively, recording four blocks, two hits, and a +3 rating in 28:00 minutes of action. Slavin has been the backbone of the Hurricanes for years now, and he's finally started to get some national attention this season.

Team USA teammate and current opponent Matthew Tkachuk praised Slavin for his Game 4 performance during pregame media availabilities on Wednesday. Panthers reporter Jameson Oliver shared his comments on X (formerly Twitter).

"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," Tkachuk said.

Slavin has four points (two goals, two assists) and a +10 rating through 14 games this postseason.

The Hurricanes will continue to rely heavily on Jaccob Slavin in Game 5

After handling his heaviest workload of the third round, Jaccob Slavin will see more of the same with the Hurricanes' season on the line moving forward.

Head coach Rod Brind'Amour was asked about the minutes for his top defenseman on Wednesday. Hurricanes reporter Ryan Henkel shared his comments on X.

"If he could play all of them, we would, and he'd want to too. We know the situation. We have to. We don't have a choice. It's a good choice to have, and if he can handle the minutes, he's gonna be out there," Brind'Amour said.

Slavin and the Hurricanes will look to plant a seed of doubt in the heads of the Florida Panthers with a win in Game 5 on Wednesday night in Carolina. The puck drops at 8 p.m. EDT at Lenovo Center.