Panthers knew they needed to challenge Lightning’s Vasilevskiy. They succeeded in Game 1 win
The Florida Panthers knew one of their biggest challenges entering their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series with the Tampa Bay Lightning was going to be getting shots past star goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Vasilevskiy has steadily been one of the NHL’s top goaltenders for the majority of his 11-year career, and he was integral in knocking the Panthers out of the playoffs in both 2021 and 2022.
So the Panthers entered Tuesday with a goal in mind.
“Against someone like that, you have to make it as difficult as you can,” forward Sam Reinhart said. “You have to get in his eyes. You have to get in his face. You’ve gotta attack the net, really. If he sees it, he is going to stop it.”
The Panthers succeeded in that approach in Game 1 of the best-of-7 series, scoring six goals on just 16 shots — including all three shots on goal on the power play — in a commanding 6-2 win over the Lightning at Tampa’s Amalie Arena.
They crashed the net. They deflected and redirected shots. They cashed in on rebounds.
Everything that needs to be done to beat a goalie like Vasilevskiy.
“He’s so talented,” said Panthers star winger Matthew Tkachuk, who scored twice on the power play in his return from an apparent groin injury that sidelined him for more than two months, “so you have to be in front of him. You have to put a lot of shots up. You have to be around it — rebounds, tips, all that fun stuff.”
It was the greasy, gritty effort that helped Florida build an early lead.
The Panthers went up 1-0 just 3:44 into regulation when Sam Bennett, crashing toward the net, chipped a Mackie Samoskevich pass to the slot past Vasilevskiy.
After Tampa Bay tied the game on a Jake Guentzel power-play goal, Reinhart gave Florida the lead for good with 45 seconds left in the first period when he deflected a Dmitry Kulikov point shot that redirected past Vasilevskiy and into the net to put the Panthers up 2-1 going into the first intermission.
The Panthers then went up 3-1 early in the second period when defenseman Nate Schmidt scored by corralling a rebound from a Brad Marchand shot from the left circle and sending a wrist shot into the net.
Florida then blew the game open with three power play goals — two by Tkachuk in the second period and one by Schmidt in the third — to seal their statement win to begin the series.
The six goals are the most Vasilevskiy has allowed in a playoff game since giving up seven on April 20, 2023, against the Toronto Maple Leafs. That Toronto game, however, saw the Maple Leafs put up 37 shots on goal. Florida had just 16 on Tuesday.
For even more context: When Tampa Bay swept Florida in the second round of the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs, Vasilevskiy allowed just three total goals on 154 shots against for a .981 save percentage. That was the series that sparked the Panthers going through an overhaul, with Paul Maurice entering as head coach. Florida made it to the Stanley Cup Final in consecutive years after that and are now looking to repeat as champions.
They succeeded against Vasilevskiy in Round 1 last year, scoring 16 goals in five games to win the series on their way to their first Stanley Cup. Vasilevskiy battled through injury most of that season, though, and returned to form in 2024-25 to most likely be a finalist for the Vezina Trophy for the fifth time in his career.
On Tuesday, the Panthers found their formula to top him and set the tone for the series.
“He’s one of the best goalies in the world,” Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said. “You’re probably not just going to beat him with the clean shot many times. You have to create stuff in front of him. ... It’s not easy to get there, but you have to, especially in the playoffs. It’s hard but you have to find a way. That’s our job every single game we play, and it doesn’t change this series.”
This story was originally published April 23, 2025 at 12:51 AM.
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