5 Takeaways from Panthers Game 1 loss to Lightning

The Tampa Bay Lightning came away with a 5-4 win against the Florida Panthers in Game 1 of their first-round series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Panthers played a competitive game, but Tampa’s last minute goal sealed the deal on the first game. Here are tonight’s five takeaways.

The Crowd

With the home-ice advantage and an increased crowd capacity, the Panthers were feeding off of the crowd energy. Even before the puck dropped, the BB&T Center was electric. Rally towels were waiving, rats were flying onto the ice and the fans’ cheers and boos echoed throughout the arena. 

Every hit, scoring chance and takeaway was followed by excitement from the crowd. One of the biggest reasons why playoff hockey is so exciting is because of the fans and the 9,646 in attendance kept the building rocking all night.

Game 2 will once again be at the BB&T Center. The Panthers faithful will show out as their team is down in the series. 

Physical Play was Prevalent 

As said in the 5 keys to the series, you have to play physical and hungry to win the game. Tampa was aggressive, but Florida didn’t let that scare them. From the opening faceoff the entire Panthers team was letting their presence be felt. Even captain Aleksander Barkov wasn’t afraid to throw the body. 

We saw a glimpse of the physical play in the last two games of the season between these two teams. There were 156 penalty minutes in the Panthers 5-1 win on May 8.

It seemed like every few shifts someone was in the penalty box for a roughing penalty. I’ve never seen a game with so many 4-on-4 chances. This is playoff hockey, these two teams don’t like each other, expect more of this.

Letting Tampa Set Up

The defending Stanley Cup Champions were as dangerous as ever in the offensive zone. The Lightning converted on three of their power plays tonight, they only scored once when it was 5-on-5.

Their 5-on-5 zone entries were also something that had the Panthers on their heels. When Tampa got some space in the offensive zone, they were able to create quality scoring chances. 

Tampa has too much offensive firepower, if they get the chance to set up, they’ll make you pay, which they did tonight against the Panthers. 

Refs gonna Ref

The story of tonight’s game was the officiating. In the opening period, Sam Bennett seemed to have opened the scoring with a power play goal. However, it was quickly waived off for goaltender interference. The replay showed that the puck was loose, the goal should have counted. Tampa immediately scored a short-handed goal, giving them the lead.

There were plenty of questionable calls in this game and it seemed like the Panthers got the short end of the stick. 

The dying minutes of the game saw Ryan Lomberg get tripped in the Lightning zone. What seemed like a penalty was waived off by the referees. Shortly after, Brayden Point scored the game winning goal.

The Stars Shined

Both teams are lucky to boast some of the best forwards in the NHL. Tonight, the stars  stepped up for both teams. 

Tampa’s Nikita Kucherov scored two power play goals in his first game of the season. The last time he played was Game 6 of the 2020 Stanley Cup Finals. His teammate Brayden Point also scored tonight for the Lightning. Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman, Point and Kucherov combined for nine points on the night.

Florida’s top guns didn’t disappoint either. Jonatha Huberdeau, Aleksander Barkov and Sam  Bennett all had multiple points tonight. Huberdeau and Barkov have been on this team for so many years, yet they barely sniffed the postseason. We said in our 5 keys to the series, you need to get your big boys on the board early. Safe to say the Panthers and Lightning did just that.