Aleksander Barkov scored twice in the second period and Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves to lead the Florida Panthers to a 2-1, playoff-style win over the Tampa Bay Lighting at Amerant Bank Arena in the first game of the Seth Jones era.
After scoreless first period that saw Barkov hit the post, two Niko Mikkola penalties killed off, and a huge Bobrovsky save on Mitchell Chaffee, Florida’s captain opened the scoring at the 9:02 mark when he collected a Lightning turnover near the blue line. Barkov spun away from Brayden Point, took a couple of strides into space opened up by a subtle Carter Verhaeghe pick, and fired a shot from just above the left circle that beat a slightly-screened Andrei Vasilevskiy.
A tripping call on J.J. Moser set the stage for Barkov’s second of the night at 15:16. Barkov won the post-penalty draw in the left circle back to Aaron Ekblad. The defenseman sent the puck over to Mackie Samoskevich, who fed Barkov in the middle of the ice and he snapped off a shot that Vasilevskiy’s glove could not react to.
The Lightning finally got on the board 2:07 into the final frame when Brayden Point curled out of the right corner and whipped a shot on goal that Bobrovsky kicked out. Unfortunately, the rebound went right back to Point and he was able to backhand the puck through Bobrovsky’s pads to crack the goose egg. Darren Raddysh and Jake Guentzel drew the assists on Point’s 32nd goal.
Following a tremendous pad save by Bobrovsky on Ryan McDonagh’s shorthanded breakaway, Anton Lundell’s late tripping minor gave Tampa Bay a last-gasp, 6-on-4 opportunity. Despite having a mere nine ticks remaining on the clock to work with, Anthony Cirelli won the faceoff, allowing the visitors to get Victor Hedman a clean look, but the towering defenseman’s shot rang of the right post and stayed out, giving the Cats a hard-fought victory which ended their hated rival’s eight-game winning streak.
The positive result gave the Panthers a five-point lead over the third-place Lightning, who still hold two games in hand. Tampa Bay will burn one of those tomorrow night when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets at Amalie Arena. Florida drew even with first-place Toronto at 79 points, but the Maple Leafs have played one less game, so the Cats remain in second place (for now).
Nuts & Bolts
- First Star Aleksander Barkov picked a key spot to deliver his first multi-goal game of the season. Barkov matched Sam Reinhart and Brayden Point with a game-high four shots and was credited with one hit.
- Second Star Sergei Bobrovsky earned his 26th win of the campaign, tying him with Washington’s Logan Thompson for fourth-most in the NHL. Bobrovsky lowered his GAA to 2.66 and upped his save percentage to .906.
- Seth Jones logged 22:56 of ice time in his debut with the Panthers. Jones registered three shots on goal, two blocks and a hit while finishing with an even rating.
- Brandon Hagel, who had three shots on goal, saw his eight-game point streak come to an end. Hagel accumulated eight goals and six assists during the torrid run.
- Speaking of point streaks, Aaron Ekblad has collected at least one assist in four-straight games, helping Florida post wins over Nashville, Edmonton, Calgary and now Tampa Bay.
