Rod Brind'Amour sounds off against negativity hurled at Hurricanes squad for lackluster ECF series vs Panthers

On Wednesday, the Carolina Hurricanes' 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs journey ended with a 5-3 Game 5 Eastern Conference Final loss to the Florida Panthers at Lenovo Center in Raleigh. The Hurricanes squandered an early two-goal lead to get eliminated.

Carolina led 2-0 after the first period with two goals from Sebastian Aho. Florida responded with three goals in the second period and added two more in the third. The Panthers won the series 4-1 to qualify for the Stanley Cup Final.

Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour explained what went wrong and pushed back against the negative talk around his team.

"The way the game was going, I thought we couldn't do much better," Brind’Amour said. "And then we take an o-zone penalty and they score on that. A little floater, a nice tip and then all of a sudden, it just kind of got them going.

"Then a couple little errors that we made on coverage. Gave them a little room and they put them in the net."

The Hurricanes tied the game in the third with a goal from Seth Jarvis, but Florida’s top players made the difference late in the game. Carter Vergaeghe scored with assists from captain Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart. Sam Bennett gave them an empty net goal later.

Brind’Amour also spoke about the bigger picture and said that he's proud of his team, admitting that before the season, he wasn't sure the group would make the playoffs.

"It's the craziest thing. We're this far and all we're hearing is negativity from everybody," Brind’Amour said. "When I walked in this summer, with the pieces that left this organization, I was like, 'I don't think we're making the playoffs.' I was that worried about it.

He said that there was a lot of doubt after free agency, but the team came together and made it deep into the playoffs again.

"Because it was such a mass exodus of good players in free agency," Brind’Amour said.

"We were able to find good players to fill in, but I was like, 'I don't know if they're that good.' But they hung in there. I have nothing but pride for this group. Yeah, we didn't love this series, but that's the standard right there (Florida). You're not giving Florida enough credit."

Brind’Amour said that people weren't giving Florida enough credit. He said that the Panthers were a tough opponent and played well in the series.

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Carolina Hurricanes' performances in the ECF series

The Carolina Hurricanes lost the first three games of the series. Game 1 ended 5-2; Game 2 was a 5-0 shutout, while Game 3 ended 6-2. Carolina stayed alive by winning Game 4 with a 3-0 shutout.

However, in Game 5, they couldn't hold their early lead, which proved to be their undoing, as Florida scored five of the last six goals to close out the series. Carolina also struggled on the power play, going 0-for-6.

Despite the loss, coach Brind’Amour stood by his team. He said that they worked hard all year, overcoming a lot of adversities, as he urged Hurricanes fans to analyze the full season and not just the final series.