It’s cliche to say that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, but in this instance, it’s a great example of exactly that.’

Marchand was ejected at 8:15 of the third period after reacting to a puck shot at him by Gostisbehere. The Panthers forward dropped his gloves and engaged the Carolina defenseman, landing a few punches before taking him to the ice.

Panthers head coach Paul Maurice explained that the team has no ego thanks to long-time center Aleksander Barkov.

He certainly is enjoying life, both on and off the ice. The hope is that another Stanley Cup is on the horizon. Lion and Adalee already got to experience it once, with Gadjovich and wife Allison putting both of them inside the Cup as the Panthers celebrated the victory last June.

Things have worked out very well for Jones, who singed some bridges on his way out of Chicago but now finds himself on the verge of the Cup Final mere months later.

Jones is in his 12th NHL season, having played 860 regular-season games since being drafted fourth overall by the Nashville Predators in 2013. Before this run with the Panthers, Jones had appeared in only 37 playoff games with Nashville and Columbus, having never made the postseason during his four seasons with the rebuilding Chicago Blackhawks.

The Carolina Hurricanes find themselves in a familiar position after a second consecutive blowout loss to the Florida Panthers. Following a 5-2 defeat in Game 1, Carolina crumbled again in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final, falling 5-0 at home.

Paul Maurice addressed Sam Reinhart’s injury during the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs series between the Florida Panthers and the Carolina Hurricanes, a matchup currently tilted in favor of the star-powered Panthers,