The Tampa Bay Lightning extended their season for at least one game with an impressive 6-3 win over the Florida Panthers on Saturday Night.
This is the type of game we expected to see from the Lightning in the first three games, but they finally showed up in game four with their best game in the playoffs.
The Lightning played with a sense of urgency we have not seen in this series and quickly built a 3-0 lead after the first period.
Steven Stamkos Delivers Again
The captain, Steven Stamkos, continues to be the best Lightning player in the playoffs, as he tallied another two goals and one assist in the Bolt’s 6-3 win.
Stamkos now has five goals and one assist in the postseason.
Brandon Hagel added two goals, and Braydon Point tallied his second goal of the postseason to help the Bolts get the win.
The Lightning still have a huge mountain to climb to win this series, as they trail the Panthers 3-1. But as Brandon Hagel said after the game, no one is considering winning the series. It’s all about the next game, the next period, and the next shift.
Two things worked in the Lightning’s favor on Saturday.
Fast Start Helped The Bolts
They started quickly. It’s no secret that the Bolts have struggled not only in this series but during the season with their slow starts.
On Saturday, Steven Stamkos, Brandon Hagel, and Braydon Point scored in the first period, and the Bolts never trailed in the game.
The power play finally got going as the Bolts went 2/5 after going 2/12 in the series’ first three games.
Stamkos talked postgame about the fast start and the return of the power play. “We had a great start; that’s something that we’ve been struggling with lately. Obviously to get a power-play goal. That was a, big reason why we didn’t have success last game, was we had those power plays early and didn’t capitalize. So, to get that was a confidence boost. To go up 3-0 to start the game and to play with the lead for a little bit, that was huge.”
The Return Of Mikhail Sergachev
The huge factor in this game was the return of defenseman Mikhail Sergachev. Sergachev had been out since February after breaking two bones in his leg, but he returned and gave the Lightning defense a much-needed boost.
Sergachev is a top-ten defenseman in the league, and his return to the lineup was a huge factor in keeping the Panthers offense in check.
With Sergachev back, you can now play Victor Hedman and Sergachev and have one of them on the ice for most of the game. That is huge for the Bolt’s defense.
The loudest cheer of the night was reserved for the return of Sergachev as Paul Porter announced the starting lineups.
It did not go unnoticed on the Lightning bench. “In a normal introduction, you hear all the players’ names, there’s a cheer, it gets to Andrei Vasilevskiy, there’s a massive cheer. And I could not hear the PA guy say Vasilevskiy’s name,” Cooper said. “The roar just kept going on, and all the guys on our bench got up. It was a stirring moment, and I thought we carried that right into the first period.”
Now, the Lightning will face their most formidable challenge yet: win a playoff game on the road in Sunrise.
The Lightning has been in this situation before. They have had their backs against the wall and had to win a playoff game on the road to extend their season. This is nothing new.
The Lightning will have to play just as well or better than they did Saturday night to steal a win in South Florida.
Game five is at 7 PM on Monday in Sunrise.