The Tampa Bay Lightning completed the sweep of the first two games of their first round series against the Florida Panthers with a 3-1 win on Tuesday night. Andrei Vasilevskiy returned to form with 32 saves on 33 shots while Steven Stamkos, Ondrej Palat, and Yanni Gourde provided the offense.
Game Recap
Andrei Vasilevskiy got his second start in net, while Chris Driedger took Bobrovsky’s spot for Game 2. Stamkos found the back of the net first off a faulty mistake from ex-teammate Anton Stralman. In an effort to thread the needle to Killorn, Stralman blocked Stamkos’ pass, however, the puck bounced off his leg and into the goal. 10 minutes later, the Lightning extended the lead to two, prior to the end of the period. Brayden Point skated down the wing, shot the puck off the post and onto Palat’s stick for an open goal. Through the first frame, Driedger stopped 14 of 16 shots, while Vasilevskiy stopped all nine shots.
With zero penalties in the first, and a rivalry intensified by the playoffs, more penalties were bound to happen as the game went on. 31 seconds into the second, MacKenzie Weegar received a delay of game penalty. Later in the period, Brayden Point received a holding penalty. Neither the Lightning or the Panthers were able to capitalize on their respective power plays. Fourteen and a half minutes into the middle frame, Mason Marchment scored his first career playoff goal. Marchment’s tally cut the Lightning lead to one. The 2nd period ended with MacKenzie Weegar receiving a roughing penalty against Blake Coleman.
The physicality did not end in the 2nd, and carried into the 3rd period. Kucherov and Maroon both received tripping penalties in the first ten minutes, but Florida was not able to capitalize. Late in the 3rd, Yanni Gourde sealed the deal with an empty netter making the game 3-1. 18 seconds following Gourde’s goal, a skirmish occurred in Tampa Bay’s zone. Multiple players were assessed penalties including Panther Ryan Lomberg, who received a misconduct. The game wrapped up 3-1, with Andrei Vasilevskiy getting the win.
Takeaways/Notes
- The Lightning are the fourth defending Stanley Cup champion over the last 18 years to win each of their first two games during the postseason (also DET in 2009, PIT in 2017 & WSH in 2019).
- Panthers forward Mason Marchment scores his first career Stanley Cup Playoffs goal, nearly 29 years after his father, Bryan Marchment, netted his first such tally in Game 2 of the 1992 Stanley Cup Final against the Penguins. Both goals happened to come against defending Stanley Cup Champs.
- Ondrej Palat scored his 33rd career playoff goal, tying Martin St. Louis (33) for the second-most in Lightning history. The only player with more postseason goals is Nikita Kucherov (38), who assisted on Palat’s goal.
- Pat Maroon skated in his 100th career playoff game.
- Chris Driedger, who turned 27, became the first goaltender in NHL history to make his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut on his birthday.
Up Next
Florida and Tampa Bay will face off in Game 3 at Amalie Arena on Thursday, May 20th. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:30 PM EST.