We’ve got a new pairing for tonight’s Game 5 with Kelly Sutherland (40 minutes of Game 1) and Jean Hebert (Game 4) getting tonight’s officiating assignment:
Florida Panthers at Carolina Hurricanes
Eastern Conference Final
Game 5 – 8:00 PM ET
REFEREES |
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Kelly Sutherland #11 |
Jean Hebert #15 |
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| Games ’24-25 | 73 | 73 | ||||
| Career Games (RS/PO) | 1603 / 252 | 823 / 112 | ||||
| First NHL Game | 12/19/00 | 3/30/11 | ||||
| Birthplace | Richmond, BC | Bouctouche, NB | ||||
| Goals/Gm | 5.9 (28) | 5.7 (15) | 6.0 (23) | 5.8 (12) | ||||
| PP Opp/Gm | 5.4 (18) | 3.3 (16) | 5.5 (14) | 3.3 (15) | ||||
| PPG/Gm | 1.0 (40) | 0.6 (8) | 1.2 (13) | 0.4 (18) | ||||
| Penl/Gm | 6.8 (20) | 10.4 (5) | 7.6 (6) | 7.4 (16) | ||||
| PIM/Gm | 16.2 (21) | 25.1 (9) | 18.7 (5) | 16.8 (18) | ||||
| % of Penl on Home | 50.0% (9) | 47.9% (9) | 50.4% (4) | 48.6% (6) | ||||
| % PP Opp for Home | 50.9% (34) | 13.0% (19) | 49.4% (39) | 15.2% (18) | ||||
| Penl Diff.* | 1.2 (27) | 0.7 (19) | 1.2 (34) | 0.8 (16) | ||||
| Home Win % | 60% (27) | 57% (15) | 67% (7) | 60% (14) | ||||
| Home Rec. | 42-27-5 | 5-4 | 46-21-7 | 6-6 | ||||
| OT/SO Games | 13.5% (39) | 17.6% (29) | ||||
| Team Records | 24-25 | 23-24 | 22-23 | 24-25 | 23-24 | 22-23 |
| FLA | 5-2-0 | 1-0-2 | 1-3-0 | 4-3-2 | 5-2-1 | 2-1-0 |
| CAR | 4-2-0 | 3-1-0 | 3-1-0 | 1-3-0 | 3-1-0 | 3-1-0 |
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Trent Knorr #74 |
Scott Cherrey #50 |
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| Games ’24-25 | 73 | 73 | ||||
| Career Games (RS/PO) | 771 / 39 | 1232 / 168 | ||||
| First NHL Game | 11/13/13 | 10/6/07 | ||||
| First Playoff Game | 4/12/17 | 4/15/11 | ||||
| Birthplace | Powell River, BC | Drayton, ON | ||||
Referees Kelly Sutherland and Jean Hebert are working together for the first time this postseason. They’ve each handled a game in this series. Sutherland worked Game 1 with Eric Furlatt, skating the first two periods before suffering an injury and getting relieved by Garrett Rank. Hebert officiated Monday’s Game 4 with ref Garrett Rank, who’s on standby tonight.
Earlier this round, Sutherland worked FLA/CAR Game 1 (FLA W 6-2) and DAL/EDM Game 3, both alongside Eric Furlatt. The pairing also handled prior round matchups: EDM/VGK Game 1, DAL/WPG Game 2, and FLA/TOR Game 5 (FLA W 6-1).
Sutherland worked alongside ref Jake Brenk in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs at COL/DAL Game 1, MTL/WSH Game 2, CAR/NJD Game 3 (CAR L 3-2), and STL/WPG Game 5.
The Carolina Hurricanes are 0-2 under Sutherland this postseason while the Panthers are 2-0.
Hebert worked alongside Garrett Rank at EDM/DAL Game 2 and CAR/FLA Game 4 (CAR W 3-0) in the Conference Finals. The duo previously took the ice in Round 2 at DAL/WPG Game 1, VGK/EDM Game 3, WSH/CAR Game 4 (CAR W 5-2), and TOR/FLA Game 6 (FLA L 2-0). Hebert also officiated TOR/FLA Game 7 (FLA W 6-1) with Chris Rooney, only to have Garrett Rank take the ice as the standby ref following Rooney’s injury.
Hebert worked the opening round with Peter MacDougall, officiating NJD/CAR Game 2 (CAR W 3-1), TOR/OTT Game 4, MTL/WSH Game 5, and WPG/STL Game 6.
Carolina is 3-0 with Hebert in stripes, while the Panthers have gone 1-2.
Linespersons Trent Knorr and Scott Cherrey handled EDM/DAL Game 1 and CAR/FLA Game 3. These two officials were paired up starting in Round 2, where they worked CAR/WSH Game 1, TOR/FLA Game 3, WPG/DAL Game 4, and WPG/DAL Game 6; the duo also worked EDM/DAL Game 1 in the Western Conference Final. Knorr worked the opening round with James Tobias, while Cherrey skated alongside Libor Suchanek.
Series Supervisor: Kay Whitmore
Series Summary
| Final | FLA PP |
CAR PP |
FLA Pnl/PIM |
CAR Pnl/PIM |
Refs | |
| Game 1 | FLA 5-2 | 2/3 | 1/4 | 7/22:00 | 4/8:00 | Sutherland Furlatt |
| Game 2 | FLA 5-0 | 2/2 | 0/3 | 3/6:00 | 2/4:00 | O’Rourke Furlatt |
| Game 3 | FLA 6-2 | 0/4 | 2/4 | 9/45:00 | 7/22:00 | McCauley Charron |
| Game 4 | CAR 3-0 | 0/4 | 0/3 | 6/20:00 | 6/12:00 | Rank Hebert |
| Game 5 | Sutherland Hebert |
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| Total | 4/13 (31%) |
3/14 (21%) |
25/ 93:00 |
19/ 46:00 |
Stats have been updated through two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Data in blue shows current playoff stats and ranks.
Games: RS (Regular Season) / PO (Playoffs)
Stats/Numbers: ’24-25 avg. (’24-25 rank) | ’25 Playoffs (’25 Playoff rank)
Number in orange/parentheses indicated referee’s rank among active officials.
* Penalty Differential represents the absolute value of the variance of penalty calls by team per game. If Team A takes two more penalties (or two fewer) than Team B, this is a 2. Lower numbers indicate less variance between total penalties in a game – that is, a closer number of calls for both teams.
The full line-up of playoff officials for the Conference Finals of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs:
NHL Officials Moving on to Stanley Cup Playoff Conference Finals
We’ve got referee stats, new rules, new refs, promoted officials, and an updated pronunciation guide for 2024-25.
Here is the NHL’s officating roster for the 2024-25 season:
