The Florida Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3 on Saturday night.
Game Recap
Brandon Montour, Patric Hornqvist and Jonathan Huberdeau each scored in the first period of Saturday night’s matchup between the two Sunshine State rivals.
Frank Vatrano and Anthony Duclair (empty-netter) also scored, and Sam Bennett had two assists to help Florida jump Tampa Bay in the Central Division standings.
Meanwhile, Brayden Point, Erik Cernak and Mathieu Joseph each scored for the Lightning. It was Point’s 18th goal of the season, which leads the Lightning.
Takeaways
- The Florida Panthers scored five goals to hand Andrei Vasilevskiy his first home loss of the season.
- Sam Bennett is the third Florida Panthers player in 2020-21 to have registered at least two points in their Florida debut joining Patric Hornqvist and Eetu Luostarinen (Jan. 17 vs. CHI).
Newly acquired Sam Bennett on playing with Huberdeau and Duclair: “It was awesome. I was so excited to play with those guys. They’re so talented and so skilled. I don’t even think I realized just how good they are until I actually got to play with them.”
- Newly acquired Florida Panthers additions Brandon Montour (goal), Sam Bennett (two assists) and Nikita Gusev (assist) each registered at least one point in the first period of Saturday’s matchup.
Up Next
Tampa Bay: Will host the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM EST.
Florida: Will host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM EST.