The defending champion Florida Panthers ousted the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-3 in Game 5, wrapping up a convincing series win that bodes well for their repeat bid.
The Panthers, healthy after dealing with injuries down the stretch, won all three games in Tampa to advance to the second round. They’ve been to the Stanley Cup Final the past two seasons and also beat the Lightning in five games last season.
The Panthers picked up wins in multiple ways in dominating the series against their division rivals: a rout in Game 1 and a shutout in Game 2. They rallied in Game 4 with goals 11 seconds apart to overcome Lightning goals that were scored 11 seconds apart earlier in the game.
And Wednesday, they won after giving up the first goal of the game for the first time in the series. Tampa Bay’s Gage Goncalves got that at 2:31 but the lead didn’t last long with Carter Verhaeghe and Anton Lundell putting Florida ahead by the midway point of the period.
Every time the Lightning tied the game, the Panthers responded. Sam Bennett put Florida ahead to stay in the second period, coming out of the penalty box to score for a 4-3 lead.
Eetu Luostarinen made it 5-3 in the third period to give him a four-point game. Sam Reinhart added an empty-netter.
How far can the Florida Panthers go?
The Panthers, already a deep championship team, added Brad Marchand, Seth Jones and penalty killer Nico Sturm before the trade deadline. They showed they’ll remain a tough out in the playoffs.
They held the Lightning, the NHL’s top-scoring team, to two power-play goals in the series. They scored 16 times against Vezina Trophy finalist Andrei Vasilevskiy. They held NHL points leader Nikita Kucherov without a goal for two consecutive playoff series.
They wrapped up their Game 2 win with injured captain Aleksander Barkov in the dressing room. They won Games 1, 2 and 5 with Aaron Ekblad serving suspensions (PED violation and for hit on Brandon Hagel).
They’ll face the Toronto Maple Leafs (on the road) or Ottawa Senators (at home) in the second round. Toronto leads that series 3-2 but has lost the last two games.
What’s next for the Tampa Bay Lightning?
The Lightning have lost in the first round the last three seasons after three consecutive trips to the Final.
This appeared to be the deepest Lightning team in years after many previous salary cap-necessitated departures. But trade deadline acquisition Oliver Bjorkstrand missed the series with an injury.
Any team with Kucherov, Brayden Point, Jake Guentzel, Hagel, Victor Hedman and Vasilevskiy remains a threat. They’re all signed long-term as are Anthony Cirelli, Nick Paul and Erik Cernak.
Bjorkstrand has another year left on his contract. Yanni Gourde, Nick Perbix and backup goalie Jonas Johansson are unrestricted.