Jesper Boqvist cycloned a defender and buried a backhanded wrister, igniting a third-period scoring surge Saturday in a Florida Panthers demolition of the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals.

A five-goal flurry in the third period swayed the game to the Panthers, who remain on track to defend their Stanley Cup championship.

Niko Mikkola and Aleksander Barkov each scored twice, and the Florida Panthers scored five goals in a nine-minute span of the third period to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 6-2 on Saturday night and move one win from a third consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Final.