Panthers take 1-0 series lead, defeat Lightning in Game 1

SUNRISE — The Battle of Florida, playoff edition, was back for volume three as the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning kicked off the first-round of their playoff series.

Game 1 went pretty much how you’d expect it.  Plenty of hits, not a lot of wiggle room for either side and a one goal final. 

Matthew Tkachuk had the game winner as the Panthers took Game 1 by a score of 3-2.

With the win, the Panthers hold a 1-0 lead in the first-round for the first time since 1997. They had seven playoff appearances between 1997 and their win today.

Florida’s identity this season has revolved around their ability to play a fast and heavy game. When the puck dropped on Sunday, the Panthers tilted the ice from the jump — pressuring the Lightning with a hard hitting forecheck.

The Panthers broke the deadlock in the series and the man who lit the lamp all season was the one to do it.

6:17 into the first, Sam Reinhart deflected a Gustav Forsling point shot past Andrei Vasilevskiy  for his 12th career playoff goal,  giving the Panthers a 1-0 lead. 

“I really liked our energy the first 10-15 minutes. We kept it simple,” Reinhart said. “We were playing north, we were on the puck, getting it back… it was a good hockey game.”

Reinhart lead the Panthers in scoring during the regular season (57,37, 94). 

The Panthers defense prevented the Lightning from getting a shot on goal until nearly 16 minutes into the game, but once they got going — the tide started to turn. 

After winning an offensive zone faceoff, the Lightning fired three shots on Sergei Bobrovsky. The Panthers netminder stopped the first two shots before Brandon Hagel cleaned up the final rebound to tie the game at 1-1 with 3:56 left in the opening period. 

With the scored tied going into the second period, neither team really had an edge over the other. 

The middle frame was fairly consistent with that of the first. There weren’t too many chances for either side to open up the ice and the goaltending remained rock solid. 

Both teams went to the power play, but the opposition’s penalty killing units locked it down in front of the cage. 

When the second period came to a close, the score remained the same at 1-1. While there was a combined total of just 24 shots after 40 minutes of play, the teams had 77 total hits entering the third period. The total hits on the day was 109. 

“Everybody got a hit, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that.” Matthew Tkachuk said as he looked at the stat sheet. “Somebody had 10 (Matt Dumba — Tampa). Yea, lots of hits.”

All season when the Panthers were looking for a goal in the third period, the man to call was Carter Verhaeghe. 

Verhaeghe led the team in the regular season with 19 goals in the third period. 

He was called on Sunday — he answered.

With the Panthers on a carry over powerplay to start the third, Verhaeghe buried the go-ahead goal just 58 seconds into the period. Aleksander Barkov had the primary assist on what was Verhaeghe’s 16th career playoff goal — all of which came with the Panthers. 

“I didn’t see the pass, it just hit my stick,” Verhaeghe said on Barkov’s assist. “Barky can pass the puck, so put it on Barky’s stick.”

As the final minutes of regulation dwindled down, the score remained 2-1, so Tampa pulled the goalie with a little over three minutes to go in the game. 

Matthew Tkachuk scored on the empty net to give Florida a 3-1 lead with 2:05 remaining in the game — but it wasn’t over yet.

Tampa went to the power play with 1:11 left. 

The Lightning once again pulled the goalie — going on a 6-on-4. Steven Stamkos scored from his usual off-wing powerplay spot to make it a one-goal game — but with just 10 seconds 

Florida held on for the  3-2 win and took a 1-0 series lead at home — something they couldn’t do in the previous two playoff meetings with Tampa.

“The way I kind of look at this, it’s an even game,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. “[A] Turn of the puck one way or another, let’s get comfortable with that. The whole team’s gonna work their asses off for an inch of ice.” 

Game 2 will be on Tuesday  at 7:30 p.m. in Sunrise.