Carter Verhaeghe’s sensational goal 2:59 into overtime lifted the Florida Panthers to another gritty 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, putting the Cats up two games to none in the first-round series between the two cross-state rivals.
After Niko Mikkola rimmed around the boards from left to right, Matthew Tkachuk applied pressure to Emil Lilleberg, forcing the puck into heavy traffic in the middle of the ice, where it came to Anton Lundell. Lundell quickly slipped a pass to Verhaeghe down low and Carter cut across the crease before flinging a backhand shot upstairs past a helpless Andrei Vasilevskiy for his fifth career overtime goal.
The Panthers dominated the opening period, outshooting the Lightning 13-3, and took the lead at the 6:16 mark when Steven Stamkos drove Tkachuk, who was trying to handle a pass from Sam Bennett, into Vasilevskiy. With the goaltender out of position, Bennett collected the loose puck and calmly backhanded it home for his first of the postseason.
With Mitchell Chaffee off for tripping, Bennett would collect an assist on the Cats second goal at 15:12 by dishing the puck into the slot, where it missed Vladimir Tarasenko and came to Oliver Ekman-Larsson further back. Ekman-Larsson let go of a shot that Vasilevskiy couldn’t quite swallow up, and Bennett sent a short pass over to Tarasenko, who fired it into the beckoning twine for his first playoff goal as a Panther and 45th overall.
Most of the second period belonged to the Lightning, who scored twice in a 4:58 span to tie the game.
The first goal came 48 seconds in after former Panther Anthony Duclair took a cross from Victor Hedman and whipped a shot towards the goal that deflected in off the leg of Brayden Point.
Tampa Bay would cash in on a goalie interference call on Verhaeghe to knot the score at 5:46. The passing of Nikita Kucherov and Hedman created a triangle that culminated in Steven Stamkos ripping in a one-timer from the left circle. Aaron Ekblad managed to get his blade on the shot, but that only helped it ramp up over Sergei Bobrovsky’s shoulder.
Riding the shift in momentum, the Lightning were a whisker away from taking the lead with just under six minutes to go in the frame, however, Bobrovsky came to the rescue with a jaw-dropping desperation save on Matt Dumba. Un-f**king real!
After the amazing stop, the Panthers righted the ship and tested Vasilevskiy with some quality chances, but he was also up to task, leading to a tightly played third that saw the teams combine for just 12 shots.
Florida’s penalty kill came up absolutely huge early in the final frame, killing off a double-minor called on Eetu Luostarinen for high-sticking. The Panthers limited the dangerous Lightning power play to two shots on goal, and Ekblad had the best chance over the four minutes, going on a shorthanded breakaway that was foiled by Vasilevskiy.
The Panthers had the juice in the extra session, getting two shots on goal before Verhaeghe put on the Superman cape and ended it. Game 3 is Thursday night at AMALIE Arena.
Nuts & Bolts
- The Panthers penalty kill went 5 for 6, helping the Cats get the game to overtime where they won for the 11th consecutive time. The last time the Panthers lost in overtime was on April 24, 2016, to the New York Islanders.
- As mentioned above, First Star Carter Verhaeghe ended the tilt with his fifth career overtime goal. The only players in NHL history with more overtime winners are Joe Sakic (8) and Maurice Richard (6). Verhaeghe matched Sam Reinhart with a game-high six shots on goal.
- Sam Bennett was a force in the opening period. Unfortunately, he was drilled in the hand/wrist by a blast from Brandon Montour in the second and did not return.
- Former Panther Anthony Duclair had an assist and paced the Lightning with four shots on goal.
- Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 21 saves to get the victory. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 34 shots for the Lightning.
- For the other side of last night’s titanic battle, get jolted at Raw Charge.