The Florida Panthers will look to convert on its second chance to eliminate the Tampa Bay Lighting tonight at Amerant Bank Arena in Game 5 of the first round series. Tampa Bay’s stars led the way as the club stayed alive with a 6-3 victory over the Cats. Steven Stamkos scored twice, and Brandon Hagel (2G/1A), Brayden Point (1G/2A), Nikita Kucherov (3A) and Victor Hedman (3A) all finished the game with three points. After falling behind 3-0, the Cats rallied in the middle frame to make a game of it on goals from Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Reinhart and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Reinhart had a chance to knot the tilt early in the third, but hit the post. Stamkos’ second of the night with 10:26 remaining closed the door on the comeback. A tough night for Sergei Bobrovsky, who finished with 26 stops on 32 shots. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves to collect his 66th career postseason win.
- WHEN: 7:00 p.m. ET
- WHERE: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
- ON THE TUBE: Bally Sports Florida, Bally Sports SUN, ESPN
- ON THE DIAL: Radio Libre 790 (D/B), 92.1 Real Radio (PB), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)
- SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #GoBolts, #TBLvsFLA, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: Raw Charge
- SERIES: Panthers lead 3-1
- LAST MEETING: @TBL 6, FLA 3 – (Recap) 4/27/2023
- NEXT MEETING: Game 6 – May 1, 2024 (if necessary)
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Florida: Bobrovsky (3-1 .874 / 3.21 0SO) Tampa Bay: Andrei Vasilevskiy (1-3 .899 / 3.01 0SO)
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / Tampa Bay
Monday in the Stanley Cup Playoffs
- Dallas at Vegas 9:30 p.m. (ESPN) Golden Knights lead series 2-1
Sunday’s results
- Rangers 4, Capitals 2 (New York wins series 4-0)
- Canucks 4, Predators 3 (OT) (Vancouver leads series 3-1)
- Avalanche 5, Jets 1 (Avalanche leads series 3-1)
- Oilers 1, Kings 0 (Edmonton leads series 3-1)