The Florida Panthers ended Tampa Bay’s season Tuesday night, closing out their first-round playoff series with a thrilling 4-3 win on enemy ice.
It wasn’t even close. The Panthers dominated the series 4-1, winning all three games in Tampa’s building.
Anton Lundell had himself a night, scoring once and setting up two other goals. Sam Reinhart chipped in with an assist, continuing his hot streak.
The Lightning didn’t go down without a fight. Rookie Gage Goncalves got his first-ever playoff goal, while Nick Paul and Jake Guentzel also found the back of the net.
In goal, Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky stood tall with 26 saves. At the other end, Tampa’s Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 25 shots in what might’ve been his final game of this Lightning era.
The game was a back-and-forth battle from the start. After Goncalves put Tampa up early, Carter Verhaeghe – who used to wear Lightning blue – tied it up on the power play.
Lundell gave Florida their first lead when the puck bounced off his skate, but Paul answered right back just over two minutes later.
The Panthers kept coming. Team captain Aleksander Barkov finally got his first goal of the series early in the second period. Then came the game-winner from Sam Bennett, who jumped out of the penalty box just in time to finish off a perfect two-on-one play.
Here’s what’s scary for whoever faces Florida next: They’re practically unbeatable with a lead. The Panthers haven’t lost a playoff game when leading after two periods in their last 23 tries.
They’ll face either Toronto or Ottawa next – the Maple Leafs are up 3-2 in that series with Game 6 set for Thursday in Ottawa.
