Panthers Score Twice in 11 Seconds, Put Lightning on Brink of Elimination

SUNRISE, Fla. —  Sometimes the stories write themselves.

Holding a 2-1 lead with under four minutes to play in Game 4, the Tampa Bay Lightning looked like they were going to steal back home-ice advantage and tie the series at 2-2.

Then in the blink of an eye, Tampa’s lead was gone.

Amerant Bank Arena erupted as the Panthers rallied, scoring two goals in 11 seconds, propelling them to a 4-2 win and a 3-1 series lead over the Lightning.

“It was exciting,” Brad Marchand said of the final moments of the game. “We’ve been through moments like this before. I think that the one thing that you see in the room — with the group — is just the level of calm throughout the game.”

Anton Lundell opened the scoring 9:06 into the second with his first goal of the playoffs after Brad Marchand fed him alone in front of the Lightning goal.

A little over three minutes after the Panthers scored the first —  which they’ve done in all four games this series — the Lightning completely flipped momentum, scoring twice in 11 seconds to go up 2-1.

Mitchell Chaffee got Tampa on the board after sneaking a rebound under Sergei Bobrovsky to tie the game at 1-1.

On the following shift, defenseman Erik Cernak put his team in front after burying a  bar-down shot in just 11 seconds after Chaffee’s tally.

Lightning forward Brandon Hagel returned from his one-game suspension for a late hit he laid on Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov in Game 2. In his return to the lineup, Hagel received a high — unpenalized —  hit from Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad inside the Lightning zone. Hagel left the game with 8:37 to go in the second period and did not return.

“It’s getting tiresome answering questions about a hit every single game,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper responded to a reporter asking his opinion of the hit.

Already down a goal entering the third period, Florida lost defenseman Niko Mikkola just 19 seconds into the third period after he was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for boarding Zemgus Girgensons, who was on his knees when the hit was made.

The Panthers were able to kill off the major penalty unscathed after Brayden Point got called for a high-stick on Eetu Luostarinen with seven seconds to go in the man-advantage.

“It started with the kill, that was such an important piece of the game,” Panthers head coach Paul Mauirce said. “ Keeping that belief, you come out of it and you think something’s good, it’s going to happen. You get a power play going, you think that’s what it is — except it’s not.”

Aaron Ekblad thought he had tied the game on the power play with 12:58 remaining in regulation after he beat Vasielvskiy with a top shelf shot. However, the Lightning successfully challenged that the Panthers’ zone entry was offside and the goal came off the board.

Searching for an equalizer as the game clock quickly wound down, Ekblad would eventually get his golden moment back.

With 3:47 to go, an unmarked Ekblad roofed a net-front shot over the glove of Vasilevskiy, tying the game at 2-2.

Moments later — as the Sunrise crowd was still juiced up from Ekblad’s equalizer — Seth Jones’ point shot found goal with 3:36 left to play after taking a deflection off Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh’s skate.

History often repeats itself. In tonight’s case, both teams scored unanswered goals exactly 11 seconds apart.

Carter Verhaeghe sealed the win and a 3-1 series lead with an empty net goal.

Game 5 will be at 7:30 EST on Wednesday night from Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL.

“They’re going to bring their best game of the year,” Jones said when asked about Game 5. “Obviously it’s their season [on the line]. The fourth one is always the hardest one to win.”