RALEIGH, N.C. -- Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves, and the Florida Panthers defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final at Lenovo Center on Tuesday. Game 2 of the best-of-7 series will be here on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).

The Florida Panthers took Game One of the Eastern Conference Finals 5-2 based off a first period where they were able to get into the Hurricanes’ heads, a second period that Carolina started too late, and a third period where chasing the game cost them and they chose to try and make a mark physically against Florida and it bit them.

The Panthers scored two goals in the first period against a Hurricanes team that allowed just three goals in the final three games of the second round.