SUNRISE, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Lightning found themselves in an early deficit against the Florida Panthers, a familiar situation in their first-round playoff series. However, unlike the initial two games which resulted in losses for Tampa Bay, this time the outcome was different.
The Lightning successfully overcame the early setback, turning Game 3 into a dominant performance. They defeated the Panthers 5-1 on Saturday, narrowing the series lead to 2-1.
Andrei Vasilevskiy was exceptional in net, stopping 33 of the 34 shots he faced. Tampa Bay`s goals came from Jake Guentzel, Brayden Point, Nick Paul, and Luke Glendening. Anthony Cirelli added an empty-net goal in the final five minutes, and Nikita Kucherov recorded three assists.
To be honest, you would have never known sitting in the locker room after Game 2 that we were down 0-2,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “It wasn’t going to guarantee the result, but I knew well how the effort was going to be.
The Lightning will look to level the series in Game 4, scheduled for Monday in Sunrise. The reigning Stanley Cup champion Panthers, however, boast a perfect 5-0 record when holding a 2-0 lead in a playoff series.
Nick Paul gave the Lightning their first lead of the series by squeezing a shot past Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky`s pad in the second period. Jake Guentzel quickly extended the lead to two goals just 21 seconds into the third period before the Lightning pulled away with goals from Glendening and Cirelli later in the frame.
Matthew Tkachuk scored the lone goal for the Panthers, his third of the series. Bobrovsky finished the game with 17 saves.
We’ve got lots of room to get better. I’m sure they do, too,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said, “so I’m not feeling today like there’s an aberration to how I thought this would go. This was going to be a grinder straight through.
Tkachuk, who netted two goals in the series opener, opened the scoring just 2:43 into the game on a pass from Sam Bennett, marking his 20th career playoff goal with the Panthers. The Lightning, the league`s highest-scoring team in the regular season who had been shut out for nearly five consecutive periods, finally answered later in the first when Guentzel`s shot deflected off Brayden Point and got past Bobrovsky.
After allowing seven goals in the first two games, Vasilevskiy was outstanding on Saturday. He quickly rebounded from Tkachuk’s early goal and managed to withstand significant offensive pressure from Florida in the second and third periods. The Panthers totaled 71 shot attempts in the game.
I think it`s a huge win for our team. It gives us some confidence and some life in the series,” Guentzel said. “To go on the road, sometimes it brings everyone together. … It`s only one game. We`ve got to move on to the next one and be ready to go.
The Lightning played Game 3 without forward Brandon Hagel, who was suspended for a hard hit on Aleksander Barkov in Game 2 (correcting the original text`s mention of Game 3). Barkov was back in Florida`s lineup on Saturday, as was defenseman Aaron Ekblad, returning after serving a 20-game suspension for violating the NHL`s performance-enhancing drug policy.
I feel good. That`s why I was out there,” Barkov said.
The game became more physical as it progressed. Late in the third period, Tkachuk was assessed a five-minute major penalty for a late hit on Guentzel just before Tampa Bay`s empty-net goal.
When questioned about Tkachuk’s hit, particularly in the context of Hagel’s suspension, Coach Cooper offered a brief, pointed response:
The only players we hit,” he said, “are the ones with pucks.
