Nikita Kucherov scored twice, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the host Florida Panthers 4-2 in a fight-filled game on Saturday night in Sunrise, Fla.
There were 45 penalties called, including nine in a massive brawl toward the end of the second period. The Lightning totaled a season-high 87 minutes, the Panthers a season-high 49.
Florida went 1 for 9 on its power play while also allowing a short-handed goal. Tampa Bay went 0-for-6 on its power play.
The teams have combined to win six straight Eastern Conference titles and four of the past six Stanley Cup championships.
This season, the Lightning lead the series 2-1 with the road team winning all three times.
Tampa Bay, which is 11-4-3 on the road this season, also got goals from Jake Guentzel and Pontus Holmberg. The Lightning have won three straight games overall.
Eetu Luostarinen and Brad Marchand scored for the Panthers. Marchand has a team-high 21 goals, and he also has a seven-game point streak.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves for the Panthers. Bobrovsky, at least for the moment, is stuck at 445 career wins. That ties him with Terry Sawchuk for the eighth-most wins in NHL history.
Despite the loss, the Panthers are 8-3-0 over their past 11 games.
Florida opened the scoring with 14:23 left in the first. After a scramble in front of Vasilevskiy, Guentzel tried to clear, but Luostarinen batted the puck in off the shaft of his stick.
Guentzel got even on his short-handed, breakaway goal with 6:55 left in the first. Anthony Cirelli started the play by digging the puck out of the corner in his own end and flipping a lead pass to Guentzel, who fired over Bobrovsky’s left shoulder.
Tampa Bay took a 2-1 lead with eight seconds remaining in the opening period as Yanni Gourde’s lateral pass found Holmberg alone on the right side. Holmberg beat Bobrovsky’s glove.
The Lightning made it 3-1 with 17:29 left in the second as Brayden Point — on a two-on-one rush — fed Kucherov, who slid the puck between Bobrovsky’s pads.
With 12:55 left in the second, Florida cut its deficit to 3-2 on Marchand’s power-play goal. Sam Bennett earned the primary assist as his pass set Marchand up with an open right side of the net.
In the first half of the third period, Tampa Bay essentially killed off six consecutive penalty minutes.
Kucherov, who leads Tampa Bay with 47 points, finally iced the game on an empty-net goal with 56 seconds left.
–Field Level Media
