Carter Verhaeghe tapped in a pinpoint go from Aleksander Barkov for the lead 58 seconds into the third interval, Matthew Tkachuk added a purpose and an help and the Florida Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 in Recreation 1 of their NHL playoff sequence opener Sunday.
Barkov had two assists, Sam Reinhart additionally scored and Sergei Bobrovsky had 17 saves for the Panthers, who received a Recreation 1 on dwelling ice for the primary time since 1997.
Brandon Hagel and Steven Stamkos acquired the objectives for Tampa Bay, which now trails Florida in a sequence for the primary time. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 stops for the Lightning, who pulled him for an additional attacker with 3:08 remaining. Tkachuk acquired an empty-netter 63 seconds later, and Florida quickly started celebrating a 1-0 sequence lead.
Stamkos scored with 9.3 seconds left for the Lightning.
Verhaeghe’s purpose got here on the facility play, one which carried over from late within the second interval. Barkov held the puck on the proper level, then despatched a diagonal go via the slot to a hard-charging Verhaeghe — who was behind everybody else and easily touched the puck into an open internet.
It is the third time the Sunshine State rivals have met within the playoffs — each of the primary two having gone Tampa Bay’s means, and mainly in one-sided style. The Lightning received 4-2 on their approach to their second straight Stanley Cup in 2021, then swept Florida 4-0 in 2022 and outscored the Panthers 13-3 in that sequence.
That ouster introduced adjustments to Florida, which employed Paul Maurice to implement a brand new model geared towards profitable within the playoffs with out sacrificing offense. The Panthers rode that to the Stanley Cup last final yr, to the Atlantic Division title this yr — and it was sufficient in Recreation 1.
Florida took the sport’s first eight pictures, preserving Tampa Bay from getting something to Bobrovsky till 15:55 had elapsed within the opening interval. After which it was the Lightning who clamped down — holding Florida to solely six pictures within the subsequent 25 minutes, no small feat in opposition to the staff that has gotten, by far, probably the most pictures on internet within the NHL over the past 4 seasons.
Pictures after two intervals: Florida 14, Tampa Bay 10. It tied the second-fewest pictures the Panthers had via 40 minutes this season, and tied the third-fewest the Lightning had coming into a 3rd interval.
Reinhart scored on a tip-in 6:13 into the sport, and Hagel related off a rebound from the slot at 16:04 of the primary. It stayed that means till Verhaeghe skated unnoticed to the left aspect of the crease and tapped within the go from Barkov for the 2-1 lead.
UP NEXT
Recreation 2 is Tuesday in Dawn.
