The second meeting of three this season between the Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lighting was one to remember. Both teams came into the match on win streaks: A 10-game road win streak for the Cats, and an 8-game home win streak for the Lightning. Tampa Bay has one of the most dangerous forward lines with Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos, and the entire team utilizes a lot of speed to break into offensive zones. Florida was not intimated by the NHL’s leading point scorer, though, and used their strong defense to shut him down, holding Kucherov to just one assist. The battle of the special teams was an important one for either team, as both have been excellent so far this year. However, Florida’s offense was far too much for Tampa Bay to handle as they asserted themselves as the best team in the Eastern Conference.
Florida’s Defensive Pressure:
Tampa Bay’s offense is a potent one that would test the Panthers’ defense. Once again, the Cats’ defense came up big and frustrated the Lightning. If you watched the Florida/Colorado game, you wouldn’t be surprised by them shutting down elite offenses. The Panthers were able to hold the NHL leading point scorer, Kucherov, to just a single assist and ended the night at -3. Stamkos was kept off the scoreboard and ended the game at -2. Bobrovsky gave up a goal just 20 seconds into the 1st period. However, he was locked in after that, stopping a total of 28 shots out of 30. He didn’t allow another goal until late into the 3rd period. Florida held the advantage in blocked shots 14 to Tampa Bay’s 10. The Lightning held a slight advantage in hits 30 to the Cats’ 28. The PK for the Panthers also did good work, killing off three out of the four Tampa power plays.
Specialty Teams Success and Penalties Galore:
Once again, Florida won an important specialty teams fight, going three for four on their power play while killing off three of the Lightning’s man advantages. Tkachuk and Bennett found the back of the net for the Cats’ power play. Tkachuscoredot two goals in the 2nd period, and Bennett scored in the 3rd. There were plenty of penalties to go around, with both teams getting 90 minutes in total penalty minutes. 14 total players got 10-minute misconducts in the 3rd period; the majority of the misconducts came after a late charge from Austin Watson on Bobrovsky led to an all-out brawl between the two teams. Gadjovich got into two different fights, one in the first period against Watson and one in the third period against Erik Cernak. Two 10-minute misconducts were given out late in the 3rd when Lundell and Hagel started fighting. It was very reminiscent of the game against Ottowa in November, where 13 players got thrown out all at once with 10-minute misconducts. There’s no love lost between Tampa Bay and Florida; the third game next month is poised to be an explosive one.
Offensive Onslaught:
The Lightning broke the ice early, scoring off the opening faceoff win on a breakaway. Bobrovsky had gone for a poke check but was unsuccessful, so Hagel buried one into the net. The Florida offense took exception to that and responded with one of the most aggressive beatdowns we’ve seen from them this season. The Cats went on to score four unanswered goals during the first period from four different players: Montour, Bennett, Stenlund, and Forsling. Bennett left the opening period with a multi-point game already; Tkachuk, Kulikov, Lomberg, and Mahura all got on the points board with assists. The offense didn’t slow down in the second period as Tkachuk got himself a multi-point game by scoring two goals off the power play. Barkov and Verhaeghe got on the points board with assists while Montour left the period with a multi-point game as well, and the Panthers weren’t done in the 3rd period either; Verhaeghe scored two goals, and Bennett got his second of the day. Lundell, Reinhart, and Rodrigues all got a point with assists, Forsling got a multi-point game by adding an assist to his goal, and Tkachuk and Bennett extended their points to four each with assists. There were 13 Panthers who scored at least a point and five players who had a multi-point game and a 9-2 win. This was the best the Florida offense has looked this season as they cemented themselves as the best team in the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference. With the win today, the Cats now have first place in the Atlantic Division and are 2nd overall in the NHL. They only trail the Vancouver Canucks, who have 80 points to Florida’s 76. Florida returns home on Tuesday for a rematch against Ottawa.
