Lightning survive early Panthers surge but drop NHL playoffs opener

SUNRISE — The Lightning expected the Panthers to come out determined at the start of Sunday afternoon’s playoff opener.

After all, they’ve been in the same spot — where past postseason success and failure have driven them to take that next step forward. They see a lot of themselves in their cross-state rival.

Given how the Lightning played at times earlier this season, Game 1 of their first-round series might have been over quickly had they yielded to a Panthers team that was relentless on the forecheck and suffocated Tampa Bay and its star players.

So, while the 3-2 loss at Amerant Bank Arena certainly was disappointing, the Lightning have shown in the past they know how to regroup in the postseason.

“I think there’s a lot of good things in the game,” said forward Brandon Hagel, who scored the Lightning’s first goal. “I think we just keep building, keep building. Obviously, you’ve got to win one on the road to win a series. So, we’ve got another crack in a couple of days and then go from there.”

After the Lightning survived a nearly 16-minute South Florida tidal wave that kept them hemmed in their own end and without a single shot on goal, they were able to find their way back into a game that had the tight checking of a late-round playoff contest more than a first-round opener.

“They’re at home, it’s Game 1, the crowd’s pumped up,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “They had all this energy. Give them tons of credit. They went to a game plan, and we abandoned ours before it even started. And I give the guys credit. They weathered the storm … and then we played.”

Tampa Bay’s performance against a Florida team that was three wins away from hoisting the Stanley Cup last season and doubled down this year with an Atlantic Division title wasn’t totally uninspired. But it was a reminder that they will have to be at their best to get past the Panthers.

Despite being overwhelmed for most of the opening period, the Lightning went into the final 20 minutes tied. Nick Paul’s holding penalty at the end of the second came back to bite them, as former Tampa Bay center Carter Verhaeghe’s power-play goal 58 seconds into the third put Florida ahead to stay. The Lightning’s top-five penalty kill has been great, but giving the Panthers a third power-play opportunity was too much to overcome.

“Sixteen teams are out; now there’s only 16 teams left,” Cooper said. “So, the margin of error is so much smaller now. And then when you turn the game into a 45-minute game instead of a 60- minute game, you’ve given us a little bit less of a chance to do anything. … I’ll take our chances if we can play like we did in the last part.”

Matthew Tkachuk filled an empty net with 2:05 left to give the Panthers a two-goal cushion, but Steven Stamkos’ 6-on-4, extra-attacker goal with 9.3 seconds remaining cut the lead to one.

The Lightning had just 15 shots on goal at 5-on-5, including only nine over the first two periods. Three came during a four-second stretch of the first period that led to their first goal. They peppered the Panthers net following Anthony Cirelli’s offensive-zone faceoff win before Hagel put a rebound behind Sergei Bobrovsky.

Outside of that, offense was a struggle for the Lightning. And that was to be expected: The Panthers allowed just 1.46 goals per game during 5-on-5 play, and in the postseason power plays eventually dry up.

“We’ve got time (Monday), we’ve got a few days to kind of look at things and go back and try to find solutions,” Hagel said. “But it’s a good hockey team over there, and come Game 2 I’m sure we’ll be ready and find a couple of ways hopefully. ... I think we can get a little more pucks there. A little bit more bodies there. But, I mean, that’s the name of the game. That’s simple stuff.”

The Lightning’s top-ranked power-play had just one man-advantage opportunity before a power play with 1:11 left gave them the 6-on-4 opportunity that led to Stamkos’ goal They didn’t get their first power play until 6:20 remained in the second period. And they managed just one shot on goal on that man-advantage.

The stars that have led the way for the Lightning were neutralized. Nikita Kucherov, the league’s leading scorer, didn’t have a shot on goal until 25 seconds remained, and top center Brayden Point had just one shot on goal in the first 55 minutes.

Gone are the days of high-scoring track meets between these teams. Every scoring chance was hard-earned. As a whole, the Lightning played well defensively. After outshooting Tampa Bay 8-0 to open the game, Florida held a narrow 20-19 edge the rest of the way.

“The last time we were here, we gave up 50 shots and we were a lot better in that regard,” said Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman said. “Just stay out of the box a little bit more, and we should make sure they don’t get those looks.”

Also gone are the days when the Panthers were void of postseason pedigree. Last season, they overcame huge odds to reach the Stanley Cup final as a No. 8 seed.

“We’ve been waiting all year for this moment now to have a chance to do what we didn’t do last year,” Tkachuk said. “So, I think you didn’t even have to ask guys. You can just see all the faces how fired up they were.”

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