Sam Bennett scored twice and Carter Verhaeghe racked up three assists as the Panthers blanked the Carolina Hurricanes 5-0 on Thursday night, grabbing a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Final. Sergei Bobrovsky needed just 17 saves for his third shutout of the postseason, and Florida heads back home looking to put this series away in short order.

Game 3 goes Saturday in Sunrise.

Florida came flying out of the gate. Gustav Forsling opened the scoring less than 90 seconds in after Matthew Tkachuk forced a turnover and found him between the circles. Tkachuk made it 2-0 later in the first with a tap-in at the post, and Bennett tipped in a Verhaeghe shot on the power play to make it 3-0 before the first intermission.

From there, it was all about Bobrovsky and Florida’s lockdown defense. Carolina managed just three shots in the first and only seven through two periods. The crowd in Raleigh chanted “Shoot the puck” more than once, but the Canes couldn’t get much through. A Sebastian Aho goal early in the second was overturned for offside, snuffing out any hope of a comeback.

Andersen was pulled after allowing four goals on 16 shots. Bennett buried his second of the night late in the second after Andersen stopped a Verhaeghe wraparound, and Aleksander Barkov tacked on another power-play goal in the third.

Reinhart left the game in the first after taking a hit from Aho and didn’t return. The Panthers said they’ll provide an update Saturday.

Carolina has now lost 14 straight games in the Eastern Conference Final, a streak dating back to 2009. This one wasn’t close. Florida has outscored opponents 22-4 over its last four road games and looks every bit like a team built to repeat.

“We’ll take them however we can get them,” said Bennett. “Playoff goals aren’t supposed to be pretty.”

The Hurricanes now need a win in Game 3 to avoid going down 3-0 in the series. Based on the first two games, that’s looking like a tall order.