Even though they came out of the first period trailing, 3-1, the opening frame was a strong one for the Lightning. They were the hungrier team. They played at a faster pace than the Panthers. They won the majority of puck battles. They dominated possession. They registered 15 shots on goal and 28 attempts. They also defended well for much of the period, effectively taking away Florida's time and space in all three zones. So how were they down by two goals after 20 minutes? The Lightning had isolated mistakes/breakdowns on the second and third Florida goals. While on the penalty kill, they allowed a dangerous shot from the slot and the Panthers scored the rebound. On the third Florida goal (which came in the final 10 seconds of the period), the Lightning turned the puck over and lost coverage on a rebound. The first goal against was the result of a bad bounce. An innocent point shot hit off Erik Cernak and deflected into the net.
So the Lightning had miscues on two first period plays - and the Panthers converted on both. Florida got a bounce on the other tally.
Could the Lightning have done more with the possession time they had in the first period? During his postgame press conference, Jon Cooper stated he wanted to look at the game tape and determine how many scoring chances the Lightning generated off of their possession advantage. The Lightning did have several close calls during the first that didn't result in even a shot on goal. They had two first period power play chances and couldn't convert on a few near misses. Victor Hedman ripped a shot that narrowly went over the net. Alex Barré-Boulet had multiple looks from the right circle. And Yanni Gourde twice put the puck to the back post, where Anthony Cirelli couldn't get his stick on what would have been a tap-in goal.
Maybe it was due to the late first period goal they allowed or the fact that they didn't get rewarded for all of their good work in the opening 20 minutes, but the Lightning weren't able to maintain that same high level in the second. Instead, the Panthers pressed the attack and owned more of the possession time. Andrei Vasilevskiy held them off the board until the closing minutes of the period, when the Panthers took advantage of another bad break for the Lightning. In the offensive zone, Brayden Point dropped a pass to Mikhail Sergachev at the left point. The puck bounced over Sergachev's stick and Frank Vatrano scored on the ensuing breakaway.
Cernak's goal in the final minute of the period pulled the Lightning back within two. When Mathieu Joseph tipped in Hedman's point shot at 1:53 of the third, the Lightning were within a goal. But the Panthers defended well for much of the rest of the period. After Joseph's goal, the Lightning's best look came in the closing minutes, when Point had an in-alone chance on Sergei Bobrovsky. But Bobrovsky made the save to preserve his team's lead. Anthony Duclair finished the scoring with an empty-netter.
From a defensive standpoint, this one was better than in previous games, but still not up to par. Four goals against. It was a combination of crucial mistakes at isolated times in the first period along with some bad puck luck on the first and fourth goals. But after a mostly strong opening frame, the Lightning's defensive game got looser in the second and third. The Panthers generated some odd-man rushes and had other open looks during the final 40 minutes.
So as they get ready to face Carolina in a back-to-back on Monday and Tuesday, the Lightning will continue to work on tightening up their defensive game.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Phil Esposito):
1. Sergei Bobrovsky - Panthers. 28 saves.
2. Aleksander Barkov - Panthers. Assist.
3. Brayden Point - Lightning. Goal and assist.
