Nick Paul scored the go-ahead goal in the second period as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the host Florida Panthers 5-1 on Saturday afternoon in Sunrise.
Despite the loss, the Panthers — the reigning Stanley Cup champions — lead this best-of-seven series 2-1. Game 4 is scheduled for Monday night at the Panthers.
Tampa Bay’s other goals came from Brayden Point, Jake Guentzel, Luke Glendening and Anthony Cirelli (empty-netter).
“It is a huge win for our team, gives us some confidence and some life in this series,” Guentzel said. “It’s a good step in the right direction for all of us. But it’s only one game. We have to be ready to go for the next one.”
Nikita Kucherov had three assists and Gage Goncalves, Guentzel and Ryan McDonagh added two assists each for a Lightning team that had scored a total of just two goals in the first two games of this series.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 33 saves for the Lightning, who won for just the second time in their past nine playoff games.
The Panthers got a goal from Matthew Tkachuk. Sergei Bobrovsky made 17 saves.
Florida opened the scoring just 2:43 into the game. Sam Bennett charged in from the left wing, using a toe drag to get past Paul. The puck then slipped off Bennett’s stick but went right to Tkachuk in front of the net. Tkachuk scored on a backhander into the open right side.
“I liked our start, liked the pace of our game,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “I thought we stopped moving the puck as well as we can. … I don’t think we were great, but offensively, we probably generated more (Saturday) than in either of the other two games. We have lots of room to get better; I am sure they do, too. This is going to be a grinder straight through.”
Tampa Bay tied the score with 17:15 elapsed in the first as Kucherov stickhandled past Panthers defenders Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe to set up a Guentzel shot from the slot. The puck caromed in off Point’s right leg.
The Lightning took their first lead of the series with 6:43 left in the second. Paul’s shot deflected off the shot of a Panthers defenseman, and the puck bounced in off of Bobrovsky’s skate.
“Getting the lead is huge,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “The first few minutes, we’re down 1-0 and the building is buzzing. I think the mental strength of our team is tying their heads around that, keep going, and eventually tie it. Then we pierced that bubble, finally had the lead.”
Tampa Bay made it 3-1 just 21 seconds into the third. Kucherov, operating behind the net, dropped a blind pass. With the puck bouncing, Guentzel chopped it past Bobrovsky, who had lost his stick following a collision with a teammate.
With 5:41 left, Yanni Gourde dished to Glendening, who scored on a 2-on-1 rush, making it 4-1.
The Panthers then gambled early on an extra attacker, and the Lightning made them pay with Cirelli’s empty-net goal with five minutes left. Guentzel had the primary assist.
However, as that goal was happening, Tkachuk was issued a five-minute major for a vicious open-ice hit on Guentzel.
“We will learn a lot from this game,” Florida captain Barkov said. “We had a great start, did the right things. But they are a great team, played really well and won the game. All we can take from this is learn.”
–Field Level Media
