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SUNRISE, Fla. — A desperate effort from the Carolina Hurricanes saved them from being eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs — and from being completely embarrassed in the Eastern Conference Final.

Their 3-0 win over the Florida Panthers in Game 4 was a total reversal from their performances in Games 1, 2 and 3, and it started right from the opening face-off, which Mark Jankowski pulled away from Aleksander Barkov.

“We had to leave it all out there and play our best game,” said Frederik Andersen, who was at the top of the list of Hurricanes out for redemption Monday.

He didn’t play last Saturday and was pulled after allowing his ninth goal of the series in the second period of Game 2.

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That loss was Carolina’s 14^th consecutive one in the conference final, dating back to 2009. They followed it up by getting pumped 6-2 in Game 3.

The last time the Hurricanes had come out on the right side of a game in the third round Rod Brind’Amour scored the winning goal.

“It’s nice to not have to talk about that,” said the coach after Monday’s win.

His team notched a convincing one. The kind that should inspire more belief for a group in desperate need of it.

That the outcome was fuelled by two rookies that hadn’t experienced any of the previous trauma the Hurricanes had gone through over preceding Conference Final failures was both impressive and fitting.

After a strong first half of the game for the Hurricanes went unrewarded, Alexander Nikishin intercepted the puck at his own blue line while the Panthers were trying to make a line change and, in one motion, threw a blind, one-touch, cross-ice pass to Logan Stankoven, who charged in and roofed a short-side shot past Sergei Bobrovsky.

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It was Nikishin’s first NHL point, registered in his third-ever NHL game, and one of several big plays the six-foot-four 23-year-old made in the game.

The 22-year-old Stankoven finished it for his fifth goal of the playoffs and second of this series, in which he’s been arguably Carolina’s best forward.

“He’s got a lot of fight in his game, and he doesn’t quit on any pucks, and he’s tenacious, and he’s a Hurricane through and through,” said captain Jordan Staal, who welcomed Stankoven to Carolina with open arms when he was traded from Dallas with two first-round picks and two-third round picks for Mikko Rantanen at the March 7 deadline.

On April 11, Nikishin arrived in Carolina from Russia. The 69^th pick overall in the 2020 Draft, who posted 17 goals and 46 points with SKA Saint Petersburg in the KHL this season, only had his two-year contract officially registered with the Hurricanes April 26. And his debut against the Washington Capitals on May 15 lasted only 10:33 because he appeared anything but comfortable in that 3-1 win for the Hurricanes.

“It was a rough first outing,” Brind’Amour said.

This third one was a spectacular one, with Nikishin playing 18:53 and pumping a rescue breath into Carolina’s season by setting up the opening goal.

Playing in Sean Walker’s place, Nikishin stepped up when the Hurricanes need him to.

“I just like that he’s not rattled,” said Brind’Amour. “Sometimes the young kids that come over, even rookies, they don’t realize the moment, how big it is. (They’re) just playing hockey. Sometimes it takes a couple of years and they’re like, ‘Whoa, this is really important.’ He looks like he’s unfazed. I don’t know, can’t really tell you. But he’s doing a great job for us obviously.”

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Andersen did the job the Hurricanes needed from him at the start of this series.

The 35-year-old came into it leading the playoffs with a .937 save percentage and a 1.37 goals-against average, and he emerged from Monday’s game having stopped all 20 shots he faced.

There was a confidence Andersen projected that was apparent from his first save of the game, which came on a Carter Verhaeghe wrist shot from just 31 feet in front of him 1:09 in.

The Hurricanes borrowed from it and stifled the Panthers at every turn — particularly on the penalty kill, which went four-for-four for a second straight game after allowing four goals on the first five Panthers power plays of this series.

“That was obviously more like it,” Brind’Amour said of the Hurricanes’ overall game, which was insured by empty-net goals from Staal and Sebastian Aho.

Now the Hurricanes must find more of “it” in Raleigh, where Game 5 will be played Wednesday.

They know they will have to top this performance to win.

“We’re not going to (get complacent),” said Brind’Amour, “but it is nice to, I think, enjoy it for a little bit. I think there’s been a lot of crap thrown on this team. I think we can enjoy the game for a little bit…”

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The Panthers will learn from it — and look to further adjust if they must continue to play without Sam Reinhart, Niko Mikkola and A.J. Greer, who all missed Game 4 with injuries.

“We know that they’re not going away,” Brind’Amour said. “This is not even a blip on the radar for them is how they’re looking at it. But we have to keep the gas down, or keep the hammer down and give us a chance again the next game.”

Perhaps the time in between gives Walker a chance to come back from his injury, and Jalen Chatfield an opportunity to return from the one that’s kept him out since Game 4 of the second round against Washington.

That would inspire more hope for a team that appeared to have none of it going into Monday’s game.

Heck, the Hurricanes hadn’t had a lead in the series before Nikishin and Stankoven combined to give them one.

But now they have life.

And after getting outscored 16-4 through the first three games, the Hurricanes have also restored some of their dignity.

That was Step 1.

But it was only Step 1.

“We just try and preach about winning a period and going from there,” said Stankoven. “And I think it was nice to get the lead tonight as well and play on our toes instead of on our heels. So, yeah, day by day and you can’t look too far ahead. We know we got a long ways to go still.”