Florida Wins Game 3, Lomberg is the Hero

On the brink of being down 3-0 and possibly swept, Florida rallied and never quit, winning 6-5 in overtime. Ryan Lomberg had the OT winner, scoring on a breakaway 5:56 into the overtime period.

Game Flow:

First Period

After getting suspended and missing Game 2, Sam Bennett was back in the lineup. Bennett would get the first goal of the game at 4:31. Florida would then extend their lead to 2-0 when Radko Gudas wristed a casual shot that slipped past Vasilevskiy.

Second Period

The second period would prove to be a completely different period. Tampa Bay would take the lead right back within the first 9:05 in the 2nd, with goals by Anthony Cirelli, Ryan Colton, and Steven Stamkos.

Florida would finally solve Vasilevskiy and tie things back up when Alex Wennberg found the back of the net on the power play.

However, Tampa Bay wasn’t done in the second period. Brayden Point and Alex Killorn would score respectively to make it 5-3 heading into the third period. In total, Tampa Bay scored five goals in the period, a playoff record for the franchise.

Third Period

The Panthers needed to change their game plan during second intermission, after giving up five goals. Florida did just that, making a change in net by starting Sergei Bobrovsky in the third.

Early in the third period, Ondrej Palat’s boarding call gave the Panthers yet another power play. The penalty proved costly for Tampa Bay as Huberdeau threw a puck to the front of the net and it deflected off of Patric Hornqvist’s skate and in. Then with about three minutes to go in the period, Gustav Forsling tied the game at five apiece.

However, Florida had a big scare when Anthony Duclair was sent off for cross checking Alex Killorn with 23 seconds left in regulation. Luckily, Florida held Tampa Bay off for the remainder of the period, forcing overtime.

Overtime

In overtime, Florida fought off the Anthony Duclair penalty. Then, Radko Gudas gained possession off a faceoff deep in his own zone and flicked the puck ahead to Lomberg, who barreled in on goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy. That’s when Ryan Lomberg scored the game-winning goal.

Takeaways:

• Jonathan Huberdeau assisted on Sam Bennett’s game-opening goal. Huberdeau (3-7—10 in 13 GP) became the ninth player in franchise history to reach 10 postseason points with the Panthers, a cohort which also features Aleksander Barkov (4-6—10 in 13 GP).
• Jonathan Huberdeau collected his second career multi-assist game in the playoffs for the Panthers.
• Radko Gudas scored the first playoff goal of his NHL career.
• Ross Colton scored the first postseason goal of his NHL career.
• Nikita Kucherov (38-62—100 in 93 GP) had an assist in the Lightning’s franchise-record five-goal period to reach 100 career postseason points.
• Game 3 marks the 10th postseason contest in NHL history in which both teams overcame a multi-goal deficit. Each of the last three instances have involved the Lightning.

Next Up

The Florida Panthers will stay in Tampa Bay to face the Lightning for Game 4 on Saturday.