The Florida Panthers defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 5-3 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference final on Wednesday and advanced to the Stanley Cup Final for the third straight season.

The Panthers are the nominal -120 favorite to win the best-of-7 series at Caesars Sportsbook, but opinions on who will advance are split, and for good reason.

The Panthers will not, however, have running back and return specialist Raheem Blackshear. Blackshear, whose 705 yards on kickoff returns rank second in the NFL, is down with a chest injury.

The Panthers would eke out a 2-1 win in the finale, earning them their first Stanley Cup. The point is, these Panthers have seen it all. There isn’t a situation that you can throw at them that ...

The defending champion Florida Panthers ousted the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-3 in Game 5, wrapping up a convincing series win that bodes well for their repeat bid.. The Panthers, healthy after dealing ...