The Florida Panthers wasted a strong start and ended up dropping a 5-1 decision to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 3 at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday. Florida now leads the series two games to one.
Back at full-strength for the first time in ages, the Cats opened the scoring 2:43 into the tilt. After Nick Paul knocked the puck back in the Lightning zone, Evan Rodrigues was able to settle the bouncing disk so Sam Bennett could take possession. While Bennett made a nice move to get by Paul, the Tampa Bay wing was able whack his stick as went to shoot, sending the puck across the slot to Matthew Tkachuk, who gleefully tipped it in on his backhand for his third of the series.
The Panthers controlled most of the play in the first period, but couldn’t add a second goal and got a little sloppy late, allowing the Lightning to tie the score at 17:15. Gustav Forsling retreived a lazy puck dump out by Nikita Kucherov, that didn’t quite carry far enough for icing, and tried to connect with Carter Verhaeghe. Jake Guentzel was able to jar the puck loose into the air and Kucherov was able to glove it down, then split Aleksander Barkov and Verhaeghe before dishing off to Guentzel in the high slot. Guentzel avoided Sam Reinhart’s poke-check on his way to the net and let go of a shot that deflected off Brayden Point and into the back of the net.
After generating 12 shots in the first, the Panthers would test Andrei Vasilevskiy, who despite Tampa Bay’s eventual four-goal victory was the biggest reason they won in my opinion, 13 more times to no avail. One of Vasilevskiy’s best saves of the frame came on a nifty redirect by Eetu Luostarinen after Brad Marchand slipped him a pretty pass through the skates off a Lightning defender.
Instead, it was the Lightning that got the game’s third goal at the 13:17 mark to gain their first lead of the series. Taking advantage of a change after Marchand lost his stick, Paul received a pass from Ryan McDonagh in the neutral zone and worked a give-and-go with Gage Goncalves. Under pressure from Aaron Eklad, Paul was able to get a shot off that was going to go wide, but hit Bobrovsky’s skate and went into the net.
The Lightning would strike the decisive blow 21 seconds into the final frame. With the teams skating 4-on-4, Ekblad blocked an incoming Kucherov’s shot attempt, but the league’s leading scorer got to the puck and blindly backhanded it off the cage and back out it front to Guentzel, whose chip shot struck Bobrovsky in the arm and fluttered into the top of the net. McDonagh would again collect the secondary helper.
With time starting to become a big factor, an ill-advised step-up by Forsling allowed Gonclaves to easily outlet to Yanni Gourde, who carried over the blue line before crossing to Luke Glendening.The veteran completed the 2-on-1 break by firing the puck over Bobrovsky’s reaching glove with 5:41 left on the clock.
Guentzel would his draw second assist of the afternoon and Kucherov his third on Anthony Cirelli’s empty-netter 41 seconds later. Tkachuk would receive a five-mintue interference major for leveling Guentzel on the play.
With Brandon Hagel getting suspended for the same call in Game 2, will the league hand down a one-game ban for Tkachuk? We shall see…
I think the Panthers gave a pretty good effort, especially in the offensive zone, but their inability to finish and add to the lead in the first or regain it in the second cost them. At the other end of the ice, the Lightning was opportunistic, forcing some turnovers and taking full advantage when presented with the puck luck that eluded them in Games 1 and 2. Better execution will be needed on Monday if the Cats want to post the first home win of the series.
Nuts & Bolts
- Despite the three-point efforts from Jake Guentzel (1G/2A) and Nikita Kucherov (3A), Andrei Vasilevskiy was correctly named the game’s First Star for his stellar 33-save effort.
- After being knocked of Game 2, Aleksander Barkov returned to match Guentzel with a game-high five shots on goal. Barkov was also credited with a block and two hits.
- Aaron Ekblad was back in the lineup after serving his 20-game suspension. Ekblad had a couple of good scoring chances, but he and his defense partner Gustav Forsling each finished the game with ugly minus-four ratings.
- Sergei Bobrovsky was another Panther who had a tough afternoon, as the key goals by Nick Paul and Guentzel went in off his body. Bobrovsky finished with 17 saves on 21 shots.
- In addition to his empty-netter, Anthony Cirelli dished out a team-high seven hits, second behind Eetu Luostarinen’s game-high nine, and blocked three shots.
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