The series now shifts back to South Florida for Game 5 on Monday in Sunrise
The series now shifts back to South Florida for Game 5 on Monday in Sunrise
Some things just are not meant to be.
The Florida Panthers were hoping to complete a four-game sweep over their cross-state rivals from Tampa Bay on Saturday, but the Lightning came out firing on all cylinders and picked up their first victory of the Stanley Cup Playoffs by a final score of 6-3.
The special teams battle that had gone the Panthers way during the first three games of the series tilted to the Bolts early in Game 4.
A power play goal by Steven Stamkos and a shorthanded goal by Brandon Hagel just over three minutes apart gave the Bolts a quick 2-0 lead.
Then, less than three minutes after that, Brayden Point scored on a wraparound while both teams were skating four on four.
So that’s a 3-0 Tampa Bay lead with no goals scored five on five after the opening twenty minutes.
So much for a sweep, right?
Florida came out in the second period looking much better, putting up eight shots in the first eight minutes and keeping more possession and zone time.
They were rewarded when Matthew Tkachuk found Carter Verhaeghe at the side of the net from below the goal line, and Verhaeghe snuck the puck between Bollts goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy and the post to get the Cats on the board 4:17 into the period.
It could’ve been worse for Tampa if not for a couple of big stops by Vasilevskiy on Niko Mikkola and Nick Cousins.
Later in the period with the teams skating four on four again, Hagel wired a wrist shot from between the top of the circles that beat Cats goalie Sergei Bobrovsky over the glove to restore Tampa’s three-goal lead.
This time it would only last about 90 seconds thanks to a Sam Reinhart backhand off his own rebound that went in the net moments after a Panthers power play expired.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson drew Florida back within one when his long wrist shot got through Vasilevskiy with just over five minutes left in the middle frame.
After getting outshot 14-5 during the first period, Florida put up 15 shots while holding Tampa to seven in the second.
A tight third period began to open up after Stamkos’ second goal of the game gave Tampa a 5-3 lead with 10:26 to go.
A Nick Paul power play goal with Tampa on a two-man advantage in the final minutes was just salt in the wound for the Cats.
On to Game 5, Monday in Sunrise.
Expect a hungry Panthers team after this one.
Here are some thoughts and observations from Game 4 in Tampa:
Special teams were rough in the first period for Florida, allowing a power play goal and a shorthanded goal while failing to score on their only man advantage.
Another two assists for Tkachuk, who now has seven points through the first four games of the playoffs.
Verhaeghe has now scored in three of Florida’s four postseason games.
Reinhart has also scored in three of the four games against Tampa Bay so far.
Brandon Montour picked up an assist and now has three points over his past two outings.
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