There is a strange quiet surrounding the Carolina Hurricanes these days, and it’s not the kind you want in the playoffs. Following their first three brutal matches against the Florida Panthers, the energy that had previously characterized the Canes seems to have been squeezed out of them. The Panthers aren’t simply winning; they’re walking all over Carolina, challenging them to fight back. And throughout it all, the Canes are barely lifting a finger in protest.

It’s a moment that has left analysts and supporters scratching their heads: where’s the fight? Where’s the reaction? With the Hurricanes standing at the precipice of Game 4, they are not only fighting the Panthers—but the narrative that they’ve been pushed around out of the Eastern Conference Finals by the Panthers. Yet again.

The Hurricanes’ backs are against the wall, and the word from the top has been made plain: this game is a pride game. Having gone down 3-0 in a series, Carolina has been chastised for its failure to fight back—by the fans and by the men in the locker room. NHL analyst Elliotte Friedman wasn’t mincing words on the 32 Thoughts podcast, asserting, “Game 4 for Carolina. Some people say it’s too late. I never say it’s too late. This is a pride game for Carolina. This is a game where you have to stand up and say, ‘All of the sand that’s been kicked in our face, we are kicking it back.’”

“Because you’re right – they’ve been pushed around, and they’ve been bullied. And we talked about how this happened to Tampa Bay in Round 1; how there was a feeling that they had been intimidated by the Panthers. And there’s no question that the Hurricanes were there too. And when Rod Brind’Amour, after Game 3, goes out there and says the things he said, you know he’s angry because his team is being bullied,” said Friedman.

He continued, “Coaches don’t do that unless something really serious or really bad is happening to their team. And in Brind’Amour’s world, being bullied is really bad. And you’ll notice the guys he singled out better—Staal and Martinook—those were the guys who nullified Tom Wilson in the Washington series. So he’s not gonna criticize them because it was their job to limit Wilson’s effectiveness last round. The most intimidating player in the NHL and they did it. So he’s not gonna talk about them but he’ll talk about other guys. And he’s challenging his group.”

The Panthers haven’t just won—they’ve dominated. They’ve scored 16-4 on the Canes, and during Game 3, they didn’t relent even when the score was out of hand. This is how it happened, as accurately described by Friedman: “It was the Florida Panthers continuing to poke continuing to jab at them and say ‘What are you going to do what are you going to do?’ And through three games the Hurricanes haven’t had much of a response in any aspect.”

And it hurts, particularly considering the Hurricanes had been here before. Head coach Rod Brind’Amour understands it as well. His postgame reaction to Game 3 was not irritation—rather, it was a challenge. Brind’Amour isn’t a coach to criticize players unless he has to, but he made it plain the response level right now won’t cut it. The Hurricanes are getting pushed around, and if they don’t discover their bite in Game 4, they’re facing a second consecutive Conference Final sweep.

What did Rod Brind’Amour have to say after the Carolina Hurricanes’ Game 3 defeat?

That’s not just a hockey series at this point—it’s a gut-check for the Carolina Hurricanes. And it’s not the first time we’ve seen this script. The Panthers put the same treatment on Tampa Bay in Round 1, and now it seems the next to collapse to the steady pressure of the Panthers would be the Hurricanes, in a repeat of the 2023 Conference Final, right down to the sweep.

At the time all Brind’Amour had to say was, “That’s the unfortunate part of this is that we’re going to look back and everyone’s going to say you got swept and that’s not what happened. “I watched the game. I’m there. We’re in the game. We didn’t lose four games. We got beat but we were right there.”

This time it’s not the same; after all, the Hurricanes lost that series by fine margins. But in 2025 it’s been blowout losses: 2-5, 0-5, and 6-2. Brind’Amour has already issued the gauntlet. As Friedman mentioned, after Game 3, Brind’Amour tore into the team. “Just bad decision making, and the four rookies in the lineup can’t be some of your better players.”

“Like that can’t happen. There’s a couple guys in there that I don’t think came to play the way they needed to in this time of year. It can’t be Jordan Staal and [Jordan] Martinook being our best players. That can’t always be that way, and they are every night. So we needed more out of some guys,” he said.

The Hurricanes’ stars have been too quiet. Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, and the rest must stop waiting for someone to take charge. This is the time to throw it all at the Panthers, to play desperate, and to prove they won’t just roll over. Game 4 has nothing to do with fancy systems and pretty plays—it has to do with heart, fight, and not getting humiliated again.

Carolina’s season hangs in the balance, but this is more than wins and losses. Game 4 is pride—period. The Hurricanes have been pounded, outscored, and outmuscled, but now they can stand up and demonstrate they won’t be pushed around. Is it a comeback, a stop to a sweep, or something in between? This game will establish their identity. This is the time for the Hurricanes to dig deep and show they are something more than a footnote to the Panthers’ post-season.