Lightning snap three-game win streak in loss to the Panthers Wednesday night.
Tis’ the season when the Lightning and Panthers meet for a post-holiday, cross-state matchup. In the past, the Lightning have dominated the Panthers, but that has started to tilt over the past year. Some costly mistakes made it difficult for the Bolts to come back, and after a Stanley Cup Final appearance, the Cats looked to be more confident than they have in years past.
Overall, it was a story of goaltending with Andrei Vasilevskiy and Sergei Bobrovsky stopping a combined 56 of 60 shots.
After a scoreless first two periods for the Lightning, Nikita Kucherov put a shot past Bobrovsky to get the Bolts on the board in the third. This marked his 300th career goal and Kucherov is still leading the league with 58 points so far this season.
Steven Stamkos brought the temperature up a bit, responding to a hit from Aaron Ekblad and dropping the gloves. The Lightning increased the physicality and tried to make a push in the third period, but it wasn’t enough to pull out a win.
“What’s frustrating is how the game played out. That's the only frustrating thing, can't give up a shorthanded goal that ends up being the game winner,” said Lightning coach Jon Cooper. “That's unacceptable on our end. We just had a little bit of a meltdown there at the end and it cost us.”
“It’s a Christmas crowd. It’s a rival. It’s a little disappointing coming out of the break at home here and to let a cross-state rival come out and beat us on our home ice. That’s disappointing.”
The Lightning will have to turn the page quickly with back-to-back games against the Rangers and Canadiens on Saturday and Sunday at Amalie Arena.