Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 1, Game 4: Tampa Bay Lightning 6, Florida Panthers 3
There will be no series sweep.
The Florida Panthers couldn’t recover from a three-goal first-period deficit and dropped Game 4 of their Stanley Cup Playoffs opening-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-3 on Saturday at Amalie Arena.
Florida still leads the best-of-7 series 3-1 and needs just one more win to advance to the second round.
Game 5 is on Monday, with puck drop from Sunrise’s Amerant Bank Arena scheduled for 7 p.m.
Steven Stamkos and Brandon Hagel each scored twice for Tampa Bay. Brayden Point and Nicholas Paul also scored a goal apiece.
All three scored in the first period — Stamkos on the power play, Hagel shorthanded and Point at four-on-four — to put Florida in a 3-0 hole.
Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Reinhart and Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored for Florida in the second and Hagel added a four-on-four goal in the frame as well to make it a 4-3 Tampa Bay lead after two periods. Stamkos scored his second goal in the third to give the Lightning a needed insurance goal and then Paul added a five-on-three power-play goal with 3:38 left in regulation.
Stamkos gets his second
Steven Stamkos scored his second goal of the game, a wrist shot from the left circle, to give Tampa Bay a 5-3 lead with 10:26 left in regulation.
It was Stamkos’ fifth goal of the series.
Second period thoughts
Gonna keep it simple: That’s how the Panthers needed to respond.
Three goals and a 16-8 edge in shots on goal brought Florida right back into this one after 40 minutes.
The third period is going to be interesting.
And just like that, it’s a one-goal game
In your regular remind of “never count the Panthers out,” Oliver Ekman-Larsson put Florida within a goal of the Lightning with 5:27 left in the second period on a wrist shot from just beyond the left circle after getting a pass from Evan Rodrigues.
The Panthers have out-shot the Lightning 13-6 so far in the second period, with three of those 13 shots finding the back of the net.
Sam Reinhart scores his 60th of the season
The Panthers once again cut their deficit to two goals with Sam Reinhart scoring with 8:50 left in the second period.
It’s Reinhart’s third goal of the playoffs and 60th overall goal of the season after scoring 57 in the regular season.
Brandon Montour and Matthew Tkachuk get the assists.
Lightning responds with a second four-on-four goal
Brandon Hagel scored his second goal of the game — and Tampa Bay’s second four-on-four goal of the contest — on a wrist shot from the right circle on a three-on-two rush.
The Lightning lead 4-1 9:40 into the second period.
Tampa Bay’s four goals so far today: One on the power play, one shorthanded and two at four-on-four.
Carter Verhaeghe gets Panthers on the board
Florida came out hot to start the second period and began to chip away at its deficit when Carter Verhaeghe beat Andrei Vasilevskiy from up close 4:17 into the second period.
It was Verhaeghe’s third goal of the series. Matthew Tkachuk and Anton Lundell got the assists.
First period thoughts
That was arguably the best period Tampa Bay has put together of the series.
The Lightning led 13-5 in shots on goal, 28-16 in total shot attempts, 12-7 in scoring chances, 6-3 in high-danger chances and, of course, 3-0 in goals scored.
It was the complete opposite of how the first periods have unfolded to this point in the series. Florida had given up just one goal and 17 total shots in the first period of the first three games.
The Panthers will need to get things right and get them right fast to avoid the series extending.
Lightning scores again in the first
The first period has been all Lightning. They scored their third goal 15:07 into the period on a Brayden Point wraparound with the game at four-on-four.
Tampa Bay doubles lead with shorthanded goal
Brandon Hagel doubled the Lightning’s lead over Florida with a shorthanded goal 12:09 into the first period.
Florida allowed nine shorthanded goals during the regular season, tied for the seventh-most in the NHL.
The Panthers face a multi-goal deficit for the first time in the series.
Lightning get on the board first
For the first time in the series, the Tampa Bay Lightning scored the opening goal.
Steven Stamkos scored his third power-play goal of the series, beating Sergei Bobrovsky short side 8:54 into the first period on the Lightning’s second power-play opportunity of the period.
Bobrovsky had made three high-danger saves prior to the Stamkos goal.
Brayden Point and Brandon Hagel got the assists.
This is also just the second time the Lightning have held a lead in the series. They went up 2-1 early in the second period of Game 3. That lead lasted just 7:02 before Florida tied the game and ultimate retook the lead later in the frame.
An early penalty kill
The Panthers killed off an early penalty when Matthew Tkachuk went to the box for tripping Brayden Point on a breakaway attempt 2:40 into the first period. The Lightning did not register a shot on goal on their first power-play opportunity.
Florida is now 11 for 13 on the penalty kill in the series against Tampa Bay, which had the best power-play unit in the NHL during the regular season.
Recaps from the series
▪ Game 1: A dominant defensive effort in a highly physical game paved the way for the Florida Panthers to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 in Game 1 of their first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series on Sunday afternoon at Amerant Bank Arena.
Carter Verhaeghe scored the go-ahead goal on the power play 58 seconds into the third period and Matthew Tkachuk added an empty-net goal with 2:05 left to play to put Florida up by two goals late.
▪ Game 2: Carter Verhaeghe scored 2:59 into overtime and the Florida Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 on Tuesday at Amerant Bank Arena to go up 2-0 in their Stanley Cup Playoffs opening-round series.
Sam Bennett and Vladimir Tarasenko scored in the first period for Florida, which got 21 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky.
▪ Game 3: Sam Reinhart and Brandon Montour scored 6:32 apart in the second period to turn a one-goal deficit into a one-goal lead that Florida wouldn’t relinquish in its 5-3 win at Amalie Arena to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the series.
Matthew Tkachuk opened scoring in the first period and capped it with an empty-netter. Steven Lorentz scored midway through the third for the eventual game-winning goal.
Pregame reading
Need to catch up ahead of Game 4? Here’s what the Miami Herald published over the past couple days.
▪ The Lightning pushed. The Panthers responded. Now, Florida’s one win away from taking the series
▪ Unsung heroes played a key role in the Panthers’ Game 3 win over Tampa Bay Lightning
▪ Vladimir Tarasenko is helping the Panthers both on and off the ice.
▪ Brandon Montour’s homage to Nick Cousins was the latest example of how tight-knit this Panthers team has become.
▪ From columnist Greg Cote: With Florida holding a 3-0 lead, history says the series is over.
