Sam Reinhart scored short-handed and on the power play, and the Florida Panthers concluded a strong four-game road trip with a 5-2 win over the rival Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night.
Carter Verhaeghe notched a goal and an assist, and Anton Lundell and Brad Marchand also hit the net. Aaron Ekblad and Uvis Balinskis posted two assists each.
Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves as Florida finished 3-1-0 on the road swing.
The Panthers’ sizzling penalty-kill unit stymied all five Lightning power plays in improving to 5-1-1 in the past seven outings.
The Lightning’s Max Crozier netted his first NHL goal, and J.J. Moser scored. Brayden Point had two assists, while Nick Paul played in his 500th NHL game. Backup Jonas Johansson stopped 19 shots by his former team.
The match’s first power play, a holding penalty on Florida’s Niko Mikkola at 1:41, turned out to be a disaster for Tampa Bay as the visitors quickly built a two-goal lead only 3:48 in.
Reinhart led a two-on-one breakout during the penalty kill, decided to keep the puck and buried his third short-handed goal from the right circle at 2:16.
Just as the power play ended, the two-time champs dashed away on a three-on-one break with Mikkola out of the box. Lundell scored from the same spot as Reinhart for a 2-0 advantage on markers just 1:32 apart.
In the second after a strong penalty kill, the Panthers took off on another rush, and Verhaeghe found Marchand streaking toward the blue crease. The diminutive left winger tapped in his team-leading 19thgoal at 11:48.
On Florida’s third power play, Mackie Samoskevich whipped a feed across the slot, and a wide-open Reinhart fired one through the pads for a 4-0 lead at 18:08. However, Crozier connected on a long shot with 33 seconds left for the Lightning’s first goal.
Moser scored 2:11 into the third to cut the lead in half, but the Lightning could not take advantage on a power play on the ensuing failed challenge for goalie interference.
Verhaeghe ballooned the lead to 5-2 with a backhander from in close at 6:37 to put the match away.
–Field Level Media
