Matthew Tkachuk Lionized by Fans for Late Winner as Panthers Eliminate Hurricanes

The old saying goes that it's not how you start, but how you finish that matters.

But just to be safe the Florida Panthers got off to an incredible start in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals, scoring 41 seconds in, and poked home a power-play game-winner with just four seconds remaining to earn a 4-3 win and sweep the Carolina Panthers.

Matthew Tkachuk was the hero, notching his second goal of the game to send the Panthers to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1996.

It was Tkachuk's third game-winning goal of the series, an almost inconceivable stat.

Suffice to say, NHL Twitter was going wild after the dramatic winner, showering Tkachuk with praises galore:

It was a game, and frankly a series, that deserved a dramatic winner.

The Panthers looked like they might roll to an easy series-clincher early on, scoring twice in the first period on goals from Anthony Duclair and Tkachuk.

But Paul Stastny and Teuvo Teravainen answered to draw the Hurricanes level.

Ryan Lomberg gave the Panthers the lead back midway through the second before Jesper Fast scored with under four minutes remaining to set up the dramatic finish.

A sweep was a harsh result for these Hurricanes.

The first game of the series went to a fourth overtime. The second game went into overtime as well, while goalie Sergei Bobrovsky stonewalled the Canes in Game 3, stopping all 32 shots he faced in a 1-0 Panthers win.

And then Tkachuk provided the final twist of the knife in the dying moments of regulation in Game 4, ending the cruelest sweep you may ever see.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst caught some flak this week for praising the Los Angeles Lakers after they were swept by the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals, saying he wasn't sure if he ever saw a more impressive performance by a losing team in a sweep.

But if he was a hockey reporter and said that about the Hurricanes, it would be hard to argue otherwise. These four games couldn't have been any closer.

But Tkachuk was wearing a Panthers sweater, and that was the difference.