The Florida Panthers didn’t bring its full arsenal of firepower to the Gulf Coast and it showed, as the Cats were shutout 2-0 by the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena in a feisty match that saw the two clubs combine for 22 penalty minutes.
After a scoreless first period, Jeremy Morin opened the scoring on the first shot of the second, beating Panthers starter James Reimer unassisted at the 3:54 mark.
Morin would pick up his second point of the night at 14:48 of the final frame when he combined with Michael Bournival to set up Brayden Point for the game-clinching goal.
Kristers Gudlevskis went the distance for the Bolts and stopped all 21 Florida shots.
Reimer played the first two periods for Florida and made 18 saves on 19 shots before he was relieved by Reto Berra. Berra turned aside 8 of the 9 shots he faced in the third.
Alex Petrovic logged a game-high 24:08 of ice time and Dryden Hunt led the Cats with three shots on goal.
The Panthers (1-2) are off to London… Ontario that is, to face the Dallas Stars on Sunday afternoon.
In roster news, forward Brady Vail has been released from his professional tryout.
World Cup
Canada rallied from a 1-0 deficit with two late goals to beat Europe and claim the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Patrice Bergeron scored a power-play marker at 17:07 of the third period to match Zdeno Chara’s first period goal before Brad Marchand bagged the tournament-winner (shorthanded) with 44 seconds left in regulation.