For the 2nd straight year, Hurricanes left to lament falling in huge series hole in NHL playoff exit

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — For the second straight year, the Carolina Hurricanes failed to win a game in their last postseason series until on the edge of elimination.

This time, it ended their season in another Eastern Conference final — the stage proving to be a roadblock in their multiyear Stanley Cup push.

The Hurricanes fell 5-3 to the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night in Game 5, sending the Panthers back to the sport's final stage for the third straight year while ending Carolina's latest lengthy playoff grind short of the ultimate goal.

And it ended in a similar fashion to the previous year: with Carolina losing the first three games of a series, spending multiple games trying to dig out of that massive hole and then losing a two-goal lead at home in the game that ultimately ended their season.

“I think essentially we lost in the first few games,” Carolina captain Jordan Staal said. “You can’t start a series like that and expect a better outcome.”

A year ago, it was an 0-3 series deficit to the Presidents' Trophy-winning New York Rangers in the second round. The Hurricanes regrouped to win two elimination games and carried a 3-1 lead into the third period of a Game 6 at home, only to see the Rangers surge back behind Chris Kreider's hat trick in the final 20 minutes in a 5-3 victory.

This time, it was an 0-3 series deficit to the the reigning Stanley Cup champion, a tested and deep team unafraid to play and surpass Carolina's aggressive-forechecking approach. And it ended with a matching final score.

“We knew it was going to be a big task to try to beat them,” said Carolina’s Sebastian Aho, who had two first-period goals Wednesday that put the Hurricanes ahead. “We truly believe we have what it takes, but obviously we fell short yet again."

By the final horn, Carolina's lamentations went back to losing the first two games at home, the second being a 5-0 blowout in which the Panthers were shockingly dominant and the Hurricanes' normally rowdy fans were left to frustratedly chant “Shoot the puck! Shoot the puck!”

“Those first two games you’d probably want back, but it’s too little, too late,” said Seth Jarvis, who had a tying goal midway through the third period before Florida made its go-ahead move on Carter Verhaeghe's score. “And that's kind of the result of it.”

By Game 3, Carolina had seen a 1-1 game entering the third mushroom into a 6-2 loss for their 15th straight loss in a conference final going back to sweeps in 2009, 2019 and the 2023 one against these Panthers. The Hurricanes regrouped to win Game 4 on the road and avert another sweep, but they faced a long climb to accomplish the improbable.

Carolina jumped to a 2-0 lead with Aho twice putting Panthers giveaways in the neutral zone into the net behind Sergei Bobrovsky. But the Panthers flurry of three goals on consecutive second-period shots — two coming in a 30-second span — erased that deficit and silenced a roaring crowd giddy by Carolina's start.

While the Hurricanes responded with Seth Jarvis' tying goal midway through the third, the dynamic of the game had completely changed after a flurry coach Rod Brind'Amour called “a backbreaker.”

“You could just feel us — it's just natural, the building, everything, it kind of sucked a little bit of life out of us,” he said.

Carolina's five-week playoff push had included five-game series wins against the New Jersey Devils and Washington Capitals, the latter being this year's top seed in the Eastern Conference. Yet the Hurricanes went from going 5-0 at home in those two series to losing all three home games against the Panthers.

Carolina has won at least one postseason series in its current run of seven straight playoff appearances, though three have now ended in the Eastern final.

“We've had slow starts in the series, when it gets to the top four teams, they're great teams, and having a slow start is never great,” Staal said.

“Obviously we always believe in the group when we get here and coming up short is never easy, and it doesn't get any easier. We'll just try to get better and try again.”

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Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour yells at an official during the first period of Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference finals against the Florida Panthers in Raleigh, N.C., Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)

Florida Panthers center Anton Lundell (15) scores against Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen (31) and center Sebastian Aho (20) while Floridan Panthers' Jonah Gadjovich (12) looks on during the second period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference finals Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)

Carolina Hurricanes center Seth Jarvis, center, celebrates his goal with right wing Andrei Svechnikov (37) and defenseman Dmitry Orlov, right, after he scored against the Florida Panthers during the third period of Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference finals Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)

Carolina Hurricanes' Sebastian Aho (20) reacts following the Hurricanes loss to the Florida Panthers following Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference finals in Raleigh, N.C., Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Lamar Jackson thought it was over. That the Baltimore Ravens' unwieldy season would end up in a familiar spot: the playoffs.

Then, rookie kicker Tyler Loop's potential game-winning field goal from 44 yards out drifted a little right. And then a little further right. And then a little further right still.

By the time it fluttered well wide of the goalposts, the playoffs were gone. So was Jackson's certainty after a 26-24 loss to Pittsburgh on Sunday night sent the Ravens into what could be a turbulent offseason.

“I'm definitely stunned, man,” Jackson said. “I thought we had it in the bag. ... I don't know what else we can do.”

Jackson, who never really seemed fully healthy during his eighth season as he battled one thing after another, did his part. The two-time NFL MVP passed for 238 yards and three touchdowns, including two long connections with Zay Flowers in the fourth quarter that put the Ravens (8-9) in front.

It just wasn't enough. Baltimore's defense, which played most of the second half without star safety Kyle Hamilton after Hamilton entered the concussion protocol, wilted against 42-year-old Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Rodgers passed for a season-high 294 yards, including a 26-yard flip to a wide-open Calvin Austin with 55 seconds to go after a defender slipped, symbolic of a season in which Baltimore's defense only occasionally found its form.

Still, the Ravens had a chance when Jackson found Isaiah Likely for a 28-yard gain on fourth down from midfield. A couple of snaps later, the 24-year-old Loop walked on to try to lift Baltimore to its third straight division title.

Instead, the rookie said he “mishit” it. Whatever it was, it never threatened to sneak between the goalposts.

“It’s disappointing,” Loop said.

Loop was talking about the game. He might as well have been talking about his team's season.

The Ravens began 1-5 as Jackson dealt with injuries and the defense struggled to get stops. Baltimore found a way to briefly tie the Steelers for first in late November, only to then split its next four games, including a home loss to Pittsburgh.

Still, when Jackson and the Ravens walked onto the Acrisure Stadium turf on Sunday night in the 272nd and final game of the NFL regular season, Baltimore was confident. The Ravens drilled Pittsburgh in the opening round of the playoffs a year ago behind the ever-churning legs of running back Derrick Henry.

When Henry ripped off a gain of 40-plus yards on the game's first offensive snap, it looked like it was going to be more of the same. While Henry did rush for 126 yards and joined Hall of Famer Barry Sanders as the only running backs in NFL history to have five 1,500-yard seasons, he was less effective in the second half.

Even that first run was telling of what night it was going to be, as an illegal block by wide receiver Zay Flowers cost Baltimore some field position. The Ravens ended up scoring on the drive anyway, thanks to a 38-yard fourth-down flip from Jackson to a wide-open Devontez Walker, but it started a pattern that was hard to shake as several steps forward were met with one step back on a night the Ravens finished with nine penalties for 78 yards.

“We were having a lot of penalties, which kept stopping drives," Jackson said. “But I'm proud of my guys because we kept overcoming. We kept overcoming adversity and situations like this. Divisional games (can) be like that sometimes.”

Particularly when the Steelers are on the other side of the line of scrimmage. Pittsburgh has won 10 of the last 13 meetings. And while a handful of them have been in late-season matchups with the Ravens already assured of reaching the playoffs, the reality is the Steelers have been able to regularly do something that most others have not: found a way to beat Jackson.

“It comes down to situations like this,” Jackson said. “Two-point conversion one year. Field goal another year. And again this year. Just got to find a way to get that win here.”

And figure out who is going to be around to help get it.

Head coach John Harbaugh's 18th season in Baltimore ended with the Ravens missing the playoffs for just the second time in eight years. Jackson turns 29 this week and is still one of the most electric players in the league.

Yet Harbaugh and Jackson have yet to find a way to have that breakthrough season that Harbaugh enjoyed with Joe Flacco in 2013 when the Ravens won the Super Bowl.

There was hope when the season began that the roadblocks that have long been in the franchise's way — Kansas City and Patrick Mahomes chief among them — would be gone.

While the Ravens did get their way in a sense — the Chiefs will watch the playoffs from afar for the first time in a decade after a nightmarish season of their own — it never all came together.

Jackson declined to endorse Harbaugh returning for a 19th season, saying the loss was still too fresh to zoom out on what it might mean for the franchise going forward.

Harbaugh, for his part, certainly seems up for running it back in the fall.

“I love these guys,” he said afterward. “I love these guys.”

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, right, hands the ball off to running back Derrick Henry (22) during the first half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh talks with an offical during the second half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)

Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Cameron Heyward, left, greets Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) after an NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Steelers safety Jabrill Peppers (40) reacts after Baltimore Ravens kicker Tyler Loop (33) missed a field goal attempt in the second half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)