The Florida Panthers dominated the Tampa Bay Lightning in game one of their seven-game playoff series with a 3-2 win to take a 1-0 series lead.
It has been a while since we saw a Lightning team dominated like this from start to finish—credit to the Panthers. We saw firsthand why the Panthers were the second-best defensive team in the NHL.
The Lightning did not look ready to go from the opening puck drop, and that let the Panthers set the tone for the rest of the game.
Slow Start Doomed The Lightning
The Lightning finally found their game at around the fifteen-minute mark of the first period when Brandon Hagel was able to put one by Sergei Bobrovsky to tie the game at one on just the second shot of the game for the Lightning.
Jon Cooper was not happy with the Bolts’ start and the penalties that the team took.
“They’re at home, it’s Game 1, the crowd’s pumped up,” Cooper said. “They had all this energy. Give them tons of credit. They went to a game plan, and we abandoned ours before it even started. And I give the guys credit. They weathered the storm, and then we played.”
After the Hagel goal at 16:04 in the first period, the Panthers would keep the Bolts off the board until just ten seconds left in the game, when Steven Stamkos scored a power-play goal to make it 3-2.
The Hagel-Cirelli-Stamkos line would be the best line of game one for the Bolts. They generated more scoring chances, were able to move the puck against the Florida defense, and scored the two goals of the game for the Lightning.
It was a very physical game, and I expect that to continue for the rest of the series.
It is not a good sign when the league’s leading scorer, Nikita Kucherov, has more hits than shots. Kucherov finished with five hits and just two shots.
Andrei Vasilevskiy Played Well In The 3-2 Loss
The play of both goalies was stellar, but Andrei Vasilevskiy proved again why he is one of the best goalies in the world, as he made some incredible saves in the first fifteen minutes of the game to keep the Lightning in the game. The game would have been over in the first period if not for his play.
The Lightning came to South Florida looking for a split in the series. So what must they do to take the series back to Tampa 1-1?
Create More Scoring Chances For Nikita Kucherov and Braydon Point
They must figure out how to create space for Nikita Kucherov and Braydon Point to operate. The Panthers put on a clinic on how to take Kucherov and Point out of the game and be non-factors. Now it’s up to the Lightning to devise a game plan to give their two top scorers space to operate.
Continue to handle the pressure that Florida creates offensively. The Bolts did an excellent job riding out the Panther’s offensive onslaught during the first 15 minutes of the game and finally got their game going late in the first period.
Lightning Must Have A Fast Start In Game Two
Start faster. The Bolts can’t sit around and wait to make something happen. This team must bring the energy and passion right from the puck drop and let it play out for 60 minutes.
Jon Cooper likes the Lightning’s chances in game two based on how they played the final 45 minutes of game one.
“When you turn the game into a 45-minute game instead of a 60-minute game, you’ve given us a little bit less of a chance to do anything. I’ll take our chances if we can play like we did in the last part.”
Game Two is Tuesday night at 7:30 in Sunrise.