The Florida Panthers joined the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs by eliminating the Tampa Bay Lightning with an impressive 6-3 win in Game 5 at Amalie Arena.
In a game that played out stylistically unlike the previous four, the desperate Lightning got what they wanted most, an early lead, when Gage Gonclaves was in the right spot to pot a loose puck after Victor Hedman’s shot from the left point was deflected by Luke Glendening, putting Sergei Bobrovsky out of position. It was the first career postseason goal for the rookie, and came just 2:33 into the tilt.
The Panthers would take advantage of a slashing call on Emil Lilleberg to draw even just 2:48 later. After taking a pass from Sam Reinhart, Matthew Tkachuk wristed in a shot from the left point and Carter Verhaeghe was able to stick a fork in the puck after it hit his skate, spin and deposit it in the back of the yawning net.
Florida took its first lead at 10:06 when Brad Marchand took a head-man feed from Eetu Luostarinen, gained the zone, and then worked a nifty little give-and-go with the lanky Finn near the left boards before firing a pass into the goalmouth that bounced in off Anton Lundell’s left skate.
After putting his team on top, Lundell played an unfortunate part in Tampa Bay’s next goal. It looked like Lundell was going to skate the puck out of trouble after collecting a blocked shot, but Conor Geekie swept the puck off his stick and it came to Nick Paul. Paul spun around and sniped Bobrovsky from the inner edge of the left circle with 7:44 left in the frame.
The Panthers shrugged off the goal and continue to pepper Andrei Vasilevskiy, however, the Lightning keeper was able to get his club to the dressing room tied, despite the visitors’ 16-8 advantage in shots. Vasilevskiy was dynamite on Florida’s second power-play opportunity of the night, robbing Reinhart on a rebound chance after he first denied Tkachuk.
Florida started the second period by regaining the lead just 52 seconds in. Luostarinen sent a pass back to Gustav Forsling at the left point and he blasted a shot towards the net that Aleksander Barkov got a piece of, giving the puck enough lift to fly by Vasilevskiy. With his first of the series, Barkov became the fourth player in franchise history to hit twenty career playoff goals.
A needless slash by Sam Bennett gave the Lightning a man-advantage and they would light the lamp for the final time this season at 9:57. Hedman, who had his stick whacked out of hands by Bennett, got his second helper of the contest after collecting the puck after Niko Mikkola knocked it out of the path of Brayden Point. Hedman sent a short cross to Jake Guentzel, and his routine-looking shot from just above the left circle found its way past a distracted Bobrovsky, who had both Point and Mikkola in front of him, waving at the puck.
Following a second slashing minor, Bennett redeemed himself by emerging from the penalty box to take a lead pass from Lundell and cruised into open space down the right side. Playoff Sam notched the eventual game-winner by ripping a dart of a shot between Vasilevskiy’s right pad and blocker at 15:13. Luostarinen started the play off by dispossessing Nikita Kucherov of the puck, giving him a career-high three assists.
Luostarinen would slam home a perfect centering feed from Marchand with 6:48 remaining in regulation to provide the insurance marker. Lundell sprung Marchand with a bounce pass off the right boards, and the wily veteran did the rest, creating the space needed to slip the puck past defenseman Darren Raddysh.
Reinhart ended a three-game drought by scoring unassisted into an empty net from center ice 2:34 later to hammer in one last nail, and that was that. The Cats advanced out of the first round for the fourth straight season and will face either the division-winning Toronto Maple Leafs or the upstart Ottawa Senators.
What a performance by the Panthers, who displayed their ability to win a game outside their comfort zone and did so on the road in a hostile environment to close out a highly-skilled and determined opponent fighting for its life. Impressive. Most Impressive.
Nuts & Bolts
- Eetu Luostarinen racked up a goal and three assists in the performance of a lifetime to earn First Star honors in the clincher. In addition to amassing four points, Luostarinen was credited with three shots, a block four hits and a plus-four rating.
- Luostarinen and linemates Anton Lundell (1G/2A) and Brad Marchand (2A) combined for nine points after producing four points in Monday’s 4-2 win.
- Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 26 stops to eliminate the Lightning for the third time is his career. Bobrovsky’s highlight reel sequence of saves on Erik Cernak and Gage Gonclaves in with the Cats up 3-2 in the second period was a display of brilliance.
- Doing it in under-the-radar fashion, Sam Reinhart led the Panthers and tied Tampa Bay’s Jake Guentzel for the most points in the Battle of Florida with six.
- The Panthers’ other Sam notched the series-winner and put up at least a point in four of the five games. Bennett came to play in Game 5, registering six shots, two blocks and five hits.
- What more can you say about Florida’s group of penalty killers? They held the Lightning’s deadly power-play to a mere two goals over the course of the series. Utterly amazing!
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