‘The picture changes completely’: Panthers have new life after two-goal comeback in Tampa
Ryan Lomberg played fewer minutes than any other skater in the Florida Panthers’ 6-5 overtime win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday. He was on the ice for only 15 seconds in overtime. He had scored a grand total of two NHL goals and has more than double the penalty minutes than games played.
So, of course, the puck found his stick with the Panthers’ season effectively on the line early in overtime. By the time he crossed the blue line, he already knew what he was going to do with his breakaway chance against Andrei Vasilevskiy. There was nothing fancy — just a simple wrist shot over the star goaltender’s left shoulder and a chance to celebrate one of the biggest wins in franchise history to cut the Lightning’s series lead to 2-1.
“All of a sudden, the picture changes completely,” coach Joel Quenneville said Thursday. “We needed something to feel good about ourselves. I know we had a great run for the whole year and all of a sudden the alternative to tonight’s result would’ve been a really ugly damper on the whole year.”
Florida knew well what a loss in Tampa would’ve meant. A 3-0 series deficit is rarely overcome — only four times in NHL history and only twice this century. Against the reigning champion and reigning Vezina Trophy winner, those odds might’ve even been smaller.
Instead, the Panthers enter Game 4 on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. with a chance to sweep a pair of games at Amalie Arena, even the series and reclaim home-ice advantage for the first round of the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs.
“We were treating tonight like a must-win,” Lomberg said Thursday. “You never want to be down 3-0.”
It took a complete effort to survive.
Goaltender Chris Driedger, who got the start over Sergei Bobrovsky, shut out the Lightning in the first period with 10 saves. Versatile forward Sam Bennett, who was suspended for Game 2, scored the opening goal to help Florida build a 2-0 lead in the first period. After Driedger gave up five goals on 12 shots in the second period, Bobrovsky came to the rescue, and notched nine saves in the third period and overtime to shut out Tampa Bay the rest of the way.
All-Star left wing Jonathan Huberdeau scored a team-high three points, including the primary assist on the Panthers’ first goal in their two-goal, third-period comeback. Players from all four forward lines and all three defensive pairings contributed points. Florida peppered Vasilevskiy with 47 shots, and are now averaging 39.7 shots and 3.67 goals against the Lightning so far in this series. On the Panthers’ final three goals, eight different players contributed points to complete the comeback.
“Throughout the season, this team has tremendous ability to come back. It doesn’t how much the deficit we have,” Bobrovsky said Thursday. “It was one of those games where we get together one at a time and we pulled the ‘W.’”
In all three games, Florida has had the edge in scoring chances, high-danger chances, expected goals and Fenwick, which totals all unblocked shots. All the advanced possession metrics suggest the Panthers have outplayed the Lightning in 5-on-5 action in this series — just as they did throughout the regular season.
The difference so far has been the power play and goaltending. Florida has given up five power-play goals, including two during the second period Thursday, and Vasilevskiy has a .882 high-danger save percentage, while the Panthers’ is just .714.
“We had amazing stretches in the game — in the series, as well — with nothing to show for it,” Quenneville said. “We’ve had a lot of interesting bounces in this series and I think we’ve finally got one going our way here with the win. ... It’s one game, but it certainly gives us something to get excited about. Find a way to channel the momentum that you have.”
Said Huberdeau: “We know we can beat them.”
