Aleksander Barkov scored two goals and Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves as the host Florida Panthers snapped the Tampa Bay Lightning’s eight-game winning streak 2-1 on Monday night in Sunrise.
Tampa Bay had held the NHL’s longest active win streak, but it ended in large part due to Barkov’s first multi-goal game of the season.
Florida’s penalty-killing unit also delivered, going 7-for-7 as the Panthers won their fourth straight game.
The Panthers played their fifth straight game without star forward Matthew Tkachuk, who was placed on the long-term injury list on Monday. The team confirmed he will miss the rest of the regular season with a groin injury.
For Tampa Bay, goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 27 shots in his 11th straight start. He is 9-1-1 in that span.
Brayden Point scored the Lightning’s goal, his team-leading 32nd of the season.
Five-time All-Star defenseman Seth Jones made his Panthers debut, providing three shots, two blocks and one hit in 22:56.
Jones was acquired in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday. The Panthers dealt backup goalie Spencer Knight to Chicago, then called up Chris Driedger to serve as Bobrovsky’s backup.
After a scoreless first period, the Panthers made it 1-0 on Barkov’s initial goal 10:58 left in the second.
Tampa Bay’s J.J. Moser turned it over in his own end. Barkov got the puck, spun away from Point, used Victor Hedman as a screen and beat Vasilevskiy — who never saw the shot — from just beyond the left circle.
Six minutes later, Barkov scored a power-play goal. The sequence started when Moser made another mistake, tripping A.J. Greer.
Six seconds later, it was 2-0 as Barkov beat Luke Glendening on a faceoff before drifting to the slot, taking a pass from Mackie Samoskevich and then turning and firing a shot past Vasilevskiy’s glove.
With 3:56 left in the second, Florida’s Eetu Luostarinen was hit with a double-minor penalty after his high stick drew blood to the face of Jake Guentzel.
However, Tampa Bay was not able to convert on its four-minute power play.
Tampa Bay finally got on the board with 17:53 left in the third. Point scooped up his own rebound and backhanded a shot under Bobrovsky’s right armpit.
A few minutes later, Tampa Bay nearly tied the score. Anthony Cirelli and Nikita hit the crossbar on successive shots before Florida swept the puck out of danger.
Then with 2:54 left, Bobrovsky stopped Ryan McDonagh on a short-handed breakaway.
With nine seconds left, Florida was hit with a tripping penalty. But Hedman’s subsequent shot to tie the score went off the right post.
–Field Level Media
