Panthers come out on top after wild second period to take two of three against Lightning
The floodgates, once again, opened in the second period. It has become a trend with the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning.
On Monday, the teams combined for seven goals in just under 12 minutes of the middle period. The Panthers took a one-goal lead into the third period, then added an insurance goal early in the final period to beat the Lightning 6-4 at Tampa’s Amalie Arena.
“Kind of wild,” said Panthers defenseman Anton Stralman, who closed scoring with his wrist shot a minute into the third period. “Definitely one for the fans. Every shift [during the second period], there was a good chance or a goal.”
The Panthers went 2-1-0 in the mini three-game series against the defending Stanley Cup champions and are now 9-2-2 on the season. The Lightning fell to 10-3-1. The teams will play five more times this regular season.
“I think we have proved a lot of people wrong in the past three games,” Panthers forward Anthony Duclair said. “We’ll obviously see them again and we have to make sure we’re playing at our best against these teams.”
Panthers coach Joel Quenneville added: ”Going into this three-game set, coming out ahead against them is a feather in our cap. But hey, we can’t rest on any laurels knowing there is a lot of hockey left. We can learn that we can expect more from one another and let’s look to get better. But that was a real good set with them.”
And second-period production was a common thread throughout all three contests.
Florida scored three times in the second period on Thursday when it beat Tampa Bay 5-2. Tampa Bay scored four times in the middle frame Saturday when it evened the series with a 6-1 win.
The teams were tied 1-1 Monday after the first period — Steven Stamkos scored for Tampa Bay, Jonathan Huberdeau for Florida — before scoring once again unfolded in earnest in the second frame.
▪ Rookie Owen Tippett’s snap shot from the slot on a feed from Eetu Luostarinen 4:59 into the period went under Curtis McElhinney’s glove. It was Tippett’s first goal of the season. 2-1 Panthers.
▪ Frank Vatrano scored on a penalty shot at 8:39, the first penalty-shot goal of his NHL career 3-1 Panthers.
▪ Duclair, after 35 shots on goal, finally tallied his first goal of the season after he wrapped around the back of Tampa Bay’s net and flicked the puck past McElhinney at the 10:23 mark. 4-1 Panthers.
▪ The Lightning cut into the scoring when Alexander Volkov’s wrist shot from the left circle at the 11:42 mark sailed past Panthers goaltender Chris Driedger. 4-2 Panthers.
▪ Aleksander Barkov’s wrist shot from the left of the net on a feed from Carter Verhaeghe at 12:36 gave the Panthers a three-goal lead again, 5-2. With a goal and an assist on Monday, Barkov now has 421 career points, breaking a tie with Olli Jokinen for the most in franchise history. Huberdeau holds the franchise record at 454.
▪ Volkov and Tyler Johnson added back-to-back goals for the Lightning in a span of 48 seconds to cut Florida’s lead to 5-4 with 3:22 left in the frame and end the two-way onslaught.
“We got the lead and things started happening,” Quenneville said, “but you’ve got to be respectful for the other team. They can skate and they’re good off the rush. They’re good defending. There’s a lot of things that you’ve got to be aware of when you’re playing that team.”
Driedger, making his first start since Feb. 7 and his first ever start against the Lightning, stopped 27 of 31 shots, including the final 14 that came his way to improve to 4-1-1 on the season.
“I was just trying to do my thing,” Driedger said. “Stay calm and stay composed. After that [second period], I just tried to do what I do after every period and kind of regroup and relax, get my heart rate down and chill out a little bit.”
Third-line production
The Panthers’ trio of Vatrano, Tippett and Eetu Luostarinen saw an uptick in production over the three games against the Lightning.
Vatrano scored a goal in all three games, while Tippett opened the second-period scoring flurry on Monday. Luostarinen recorded assists on all those goals with the exception of Vatrano’s penalty shot in the second period on Monday.
“That line gives you some different options,” Quenneville said. “They’re a pretty handy line.”
No Acciari
Panthers forward Noel Acciari did not travel with the team and will be out for up to 10 days with what Quenneville called an upper-body injury.
“You lose your Swiss Army Knife as far as utility,” Quenneville told reporters Monday after the team’s morning skate. “I use him in all situations.”
In addition to being the lone constant on an ever-revolving fourth forward line through the first 12 games, Acciari has been one of the main forwards on Florida’s penalty kill unit. Heading into Monday, Acciari led all Panthers skaters with 35:03 of ice time when the team was down a skater. He also had a team-high 18 blocked shots.
With Acciari out, Juho Lammikko centered a fourth line that featured Ryan Lomberg on the left wing and Brett Connolly on the right wing. Luostarinen took Acciari’s spot alongside Alex Wennberg as the primary forwards on the penalty kill.
Next up
The Panthers continue their four-game, three-city road trip with a 5 p.m. game Wednesday against the Carolina Hurricanes. After that, it’s back-to-back games against the Detroit Red Wings on Friday and Saturday.
This story was originally published February 15, 2021 at 9:43 PM.
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