NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – May 29, 2025

The Panthers advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the third straight year, Oilers winger Zach Hyman’s postseason is over, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.

NHL.COM: For the third straight year, the Florida Panthers are going to the Stanley Cup Final, defeating the Carolina Hurricanes 5-3 in Game 5 of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference Final.

Florida Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe (NHL Images).

Panthers winger Carter Verhaeghe snapped a 3-3 tie at 12:21 of the third period and Sam Bennett scored the insurance goal into an empty net to clinch the victory. Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk each had a goal and an assist, while Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart each collected two assists.

Sebastian Aho tallied twice and Seth Jarvis had a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes, who the Panthers have eliminated from two of the last three Eastern Conference Finals.

Reinhart returned to action after being sidelined since Game 2. His teammates Niko Mikkola and AJ Greer also rejoined the lineup after suffering undisclosed injuries in Game 3. Panthers forward Eetu Luostarinen left this game in the first period with an undisclosed injury, but he is expected to be fine for the upcoming Stanley Cup Final. 

Hurricanes defensemen Jalen Chatfield and Sean Walker missed this game. Chatfield’s been sidelined since Game 4 of their second-round series with Washington, while Walker’s been out since Game 2 of this series.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Carolina took a 2-0 lead in the first period, but Florida quickly rallied in the second to go up 3-2. Jarvis tied it for the Hurricanes in the third before Rodrigues and Bennett put it away for the Panthers.

The Hurricanes are a talented team, but they can’t match the Panthers’ roster depth and grit. They’re also lacking a game-breaking talent like Barkov and a reliable starting goalie like Sergei Bobrovsky, who doesn’t get rattled when opponents get physical around his net.

The Panthers’ victory prompted some observers to take to social media, calling for the league to address the so-called advantage that teams in tax-free states supposedly enjoy. The Panthers had two advantages this season, but they had nothing to do with being in a tax-free state.

One is the shrewd management of GM Bill Zito. Since being hired by the Panthers in 2020, he turned a perennial laughingstock into a three-time Stanley Cup Finalist, with the potential to win the Cup for the second straight year.

The other was Tkachuk going on long-term injury reserve over the final two months of the regular season, enabling the Panthers to use the cap flexibility to acquire impact players like winger Brad Marchand and defenseman Seth Jones.

The Panthers cannot be faulted for doing as other clubs have done in the past, but LTIR is an issue being discussed in the current CBA negotiations.

EDMONTON JOURNAL: Oilers winger Zach Hyman will undergo potentially playoff-ending surgery to repair an undisclosed upper-body injury (believed to be his right shoulder). He’s expected to be sidelined for the rest of the postseason.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Hyman is fifth among the Oilers’ scorers this postseason with 11 goals in 15 games. His absence is a big blow to their scoring punch and will test their forward depth for the remainder of their playoff run.

THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS: The Stars need more of an edge to their game if they hope to stave off elimination against Edmonton when the two clubs face off for Game 5 on Thursday in Dallas (8 pm ET). They’ve struggled to match the Oilers’ aggressive physical style.

WINNIPEG SUN: Jets captain Adam Lowry will miss five to six months after undergoing hip surgery on Tuesday. The timeline suggests the earliest he’ll return is late-October, meaning he’ll miss training camp and the opening weeks of the 2025-26 regular season.

TAMPA BAY TIMES: Lightning assistant general manager Stacy Roest has parted ways with the club. He was the head of player development and general manager of their AHL affiliate in Syracuse since 2013.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: This is the second significant front-office departure for the Lightning. Earlier this week, former assistant general manager Mathieu Darche was named GM of the New York Islanders.

TSN: The Seattle Kraken signed forward John Hayden to a two-year, one-way contract extension.