Gage Goncalves (© Kyle Ross-Imagn Images)The Tampa Bay Lightning played Game 1 of their first-round series against the Florida Panthers on April 22, and it was simply a bad night for the Bolts. The Lightning fell to the reigning Stanley Cup champions by a 6-2 final score and will now look to even up the series in Game 2 on April 24.
While it was certainly a rough night for the Lightning, Lightning rookie forward Gage Goncalves hit a career milestone during it. The 24-year-old forward recorded his first career playoff point by picking up an assist on Brayden Point's second-period goal.
Goncalves worked hard to record his first playoff point, too. After retrieving the puck in the Panthers' zone, Goncalves pushed through a check and made a nice feed to Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh. From there, McDonagh found Point in front, and the latter fired it home with a one-timer.
If the Lightning hope to get back into this series, they will need their young players like Goncalves to make an impact. The 2020 second-round pick certainly has the potential to, especially when noting he took a nice step forward with his game as the campaign rolled on. In his final 33 games of the regular-season, he had 18 points.
It will now be interesting to see if Goncalves can go on a hot streak after recording his first playoff point from here.
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