Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 1, Game 5: Florida Panthers 6, Tampa Bay Lightning 1
The Florida Panthers are moving on in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Carter Verhaeghe and Aleksander Barkov scored goals in the second period — Verhaeghe at four-on-four, Barkov shorthanded — to give Florida a lead it wouldn’t relinquish in a 6-1, series-clinching Game 5 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday at Amerant Bank Arena.
Barkov added a second goal with 8:56 left in regulation, Evan Rodrigues made it 4-1 three minutes later and Verhaeghe and Niko Mikkola added empty-netters. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 31 shots.
Florida won the first three games of the series before dropping Game 4 to extend the series one more game.
Next up for Florida will be the winner of the series between the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs. Boston leads that series 3-1 entering Game 5 on Tuesday.
Rodrigues cashes in
The Panthers pushed the lead to 4-1 with 5:44 left on a goal from Evan Rodrigues.
Barkov strikes again
Aleksander Barkov gave the Panthers a needed insurance goal with 8:54 left in regulation to put Florida up 3-1.
Second intermission thoughts
The Panthers have command of the game through 40 minutes.
Now, they just need to finish the job.
Florida out-shot Tampa Bay 22-12 in the second period and also led in total shot attempts (34-26) and scoring chances (18-15).
And for the second time in the game, an apparent Lightning goal was taken off the board due to goaltender interference.
If Florida can hold on for another 20 minutes, it will punch its ticket into the second round.
Lightning gets one back
Almost a minute after Florida took the two-goal lead, Victor Hedman got the Lightning on the scoreboard after a sequence of four shots on goal against Sergei Bobrovsky in a span of 19 seconds.
Barkov doubles lead with shorty
Special teams is working in the Panthers’ favor. Aleksander Barkov doubled the Panthers’ lead to 2-0 with 7:22 left in the second period on a shorthanded goal.
In addition to the shorty, the Panthers’ penalty kill is a perfect 3 for 3 so far in Game 5.
Carter Verhaeghe opens scoring
The Panthers took a 1-0 lead on the Lightning 45 seconds into the second period when Carter Verhaeghe corralled his own rebound and beat Andrei Vasilevskiy on the second effort.
The goal is Verhaeghe’s fourth of the series. Aleksander Barkov and Niko Mikkola got the assists.
As a reminder, the team that has scored first has gone on to win every game of the series so far.
First intermission thoughts
A few quick hits from the first period:
▪ The Lightning appeared to have scored with seven minutes left in the period, but Anthony Cirelli’s goal was overturned due to goaltender interference.
▪ Both teams have seven shots on goal and neither really got much offensive momentum going in the first 20 minutes.
▪ The second period will begin with 1:59 of four-on-four play after Florida’s Aaron Ekblad and Tampa Bay’s Brayden Point were called for roughing in the final second of the frame.
Panthers take early penalties again
Florida twice found itself with a player in the penalty box in the opening 9:18, first for too many men and then for Brandon Montour tripping Tanner Jeannot.
The Panthers successfully killed off both penalties, holding the Lightning without a shot on goal over the four minutes they played with a man advantage.
Nick Cousins leaves warmups early
Panthers forward Nick Cousins left the ice midway through warmups. Florida went through pregame line rushes a skater short.
Cousins, however, will play.
In the meantime, lines and pairings remained the same outside of Cousins not being out there...
Forward lines
Vladimir Tarasenko-Aleksander Barkov-Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe-Anton Lundell-Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen-Kevin Stenlund-Evan Rodrigues
Nick Cousins-Steven Lorentz-Kyle Okposo
Defense pairings
Gustav Forsling-Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola-Brandon Montour
Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Dmitry Kulikov
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Recaps from the series
▪ Game 1: A dominant defensive effort in a highly physical game paved the way for the Florida Panthers to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 in Game 1 of their first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series on Sunday afternoon at Amerant Bank Arena.
Carter Verhaeghe scored the go-ahead goal on the power play 58 seconds into the third period and Matthew Tkachuk added an empty-net goal with 2:05 left to play to put Florida up by two goals late.
▪ Game 2: Carter Verhaeghe scored 2:59 into overtime and the Florida Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 on Tuesday at Amerant Bank Arena to go up 2-0 in their Stanley Cup Playoffs opening-round series.
Sam Bennett and Vladimir Tarasenko scored in the first period for Florida, which got 21 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky.
▪ Game 3: Sam Reinhart and Brandon Montour scored 6:32 apart in the second period to turn a one-goal deficit into a one-goal lead that Florida wouldn’t relinquish in its 5-3 win at Amalie Arena to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the series.
Matthew Tkachuk opened scoring in the first period and capped it with an empty-netter. Steven Lorentz scored midway through the third for the eventual game-winning goal.
▪ Game 4: The Lightning jumped out to a three-goal lead in the first and weathered the Panthers’ comeback bid in the second to cruise to a 6-3 win to keep the series alive.
Pregame reading
Need to catch up ahead of Game 5? Here’s what the Miami Herald published over the past couple days.
▪ Sergei Bobrovsky is a Veniza Trophy finalist. Here’s how his stats compare to the other contenders
▪ How Sam Reinhart became a 60-goal scorer this season
▪ How a forgettable first period foiled the Panthers’ chance for a series sweep
