Carolina Hurricanes vs Florida Panthers Game 4: Preview, lines, predictions, where and how to watch - 2023 NHL Eastern Conference Final

The Florida Panthers could advance to the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday night. Game 4 of the NHL's Eastern Conference Final goes down as the Panthers lead the series 3-0.

The Panthers won the first two games on the road in overtime and then won Game 3 1-0 as Sergei Bobrovsky has been nearly unbeatable in goal.

Game 4 is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

How to watch the Carolina Hurricanes vs Florida Panthers

TV: TNT, CBC, Sportsnet, TVAS

Livestream: DTV STREAM, Hulu, Sling TV, and YouTube TV

The Florida Panthers were the eighth seed in the NHL's Eastern Conference and many expected them to lose in the first round to the Boston Bruins. Yet, after going down 3-1 in the series, Florida rallied off three straight wins and then beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in five games.

Only four teams have ever come back from being down 3-0, and no team has ever accomplished the feat in the Conference Finals. Carolina is understandably taking it one game at a time.

Hurricanes defenseman Jacob Slavin spoke on the matter to the media:

"What's done is done and so the reality is that we've got to win four in a row. We're focusing on tomorrow night and taking it one game at a time. We just have to go out there and continue to put on our best effort and try to break through from there."

Head coach Rod Brind'Amour said:

"We're still in the mindset that we need to win a game. That's the way we came into this series and it's the way we are right now. We're not going to win four games tomorrow. We're going to try and win one. It's simple. It's boring. It's what you always hear, but that's the only way you can do it."

Florida, meanwhile, is hoping to have Aleksandar Barkov back in the lineup after he left Game 3 early due to an injury. The Panthers are also hoping to advance to the Stanley Cup Final at home.

"So, good news," head coach Paul Maurice said. "It was as much precautionary as anything. We had to rule out anything sinister, so we're very optimistic that [Barkov] will return soon. And when he does, he'll be ready to go.

"So we'll wait until tomorrow to see how he's feeling to make sure he continues on that path. But we're optimistic that we would see him in Game 4 or, if necessary, see him in Game 5 (on Friday)."

X-Factor: Sergei Bobrovsky has been phenomenal in the playoffs since he got put into the net replacing Alex Lyon.

Bobrovsky recorded his first playoff shutout in Game 3. With Florida not scoring many goals in these playoffs, if they are going to sweep Carolina, Bobrovsky will need to be as good as ever in Game 4.

Carolina Hurricanes projected lineup

• Noesen-Aho-Jarvis
• Martinook-Kotkaniemi-Fast
• Teravainen-J. Staal-Necas
• Drury-Statsny-Stepan

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• Slavin-Burns
• Skjei-Pesce
• Gostisbehere-Chatfield

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• Grubauer
• Raanta

Florida Panthers projected lineup

• Verhaeghe-Barkov-Duclair
• Cousins-Bennett-Tkachuk
• Luostarinen-Lundell-Reinhart
• Lomberg-E. Staal-White

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• Forsling-Ekblad
• M. Staal-Montour
• Mahura-Gudas

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• Bobrovsky
• Lyon

Carolina Hurricanes vs Florida Panthers prediction

The Carolina Hurricanes are too good of a team to be swept, but the odds are stacked against them as Sergei Bobrovsky is playing as well as any goalie did this season.

The Hurricanes' goaltending was supposed to be a weak point, but that hasn't been the case. Instead, the problem for Carolina has been scoring goals, but the Hurricanes are getting chances and plenty of shots.

I expect the Hurricanes to come out aggressive and get an early goal. They will build off that momentum to get the win and send the series back to Carolina.

Carolina Hurricanes 2, Florida Panthers 1