Recap: Lightning 5, Panthers 1 - Game 3

The Tampa Bay Lightning walked into Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday and took down the defending Stanley Cup champs to earn their first playoff win of 2025.

The Florida Panthers scored 2:43 into the game, but Tampa Bay scored five unanswered goals to beat the home team 5-1 and cut the Panthers’ series lead to 2-1.

Jake Guentzel had two goals and an assist to lead the Lightning, which also got two points from Ryan McDonagh and Nikita Kucherov.

Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 33 saves.

The teams will return to Amerant Bank Arena for Game 4 on Tuesday as the Lightning look to even the First Round series.

Scoring summary

First period
FLA 1, TBL 0
2:43 Matthew Tkachuk (3) - Sam Bennett, Evan Rodrigues
The Panthers took the game’s first goal when Sam Bennett deked to the net and the loose puck found Matthew Tkachuk at the right post.

FLA 1, TBL 1
17:15 Brayden Point (2) - Jake Guentzel, Nikita Kucherov
Tampa Bay evened the score on a Brayden Point redirection. Jake Guentzel accepted a pass from Kucherov in the high slot, tapped the puck through a Florida defender and fired a shot that deflected off Point's leg before beating goalie Sergei Bobrovsky for the 1-1 goal.

Shots on goal: FLA 12, TBL 5

Second period
TBL 2, FLA 1
13:17 Nick Paul (1) - Gage Goncalves, Ryan McDonagh
Tampa Bay took its first lead of the series thanks to forward Nick Paul, who held the puck on a 2-on-1 before scoring on his shot through Boborvsky’s leg pad.

Shots on goal: FLA 14, TBL 11

Third period
TBL 3, FLA 1
00:21 Guentzel (2) - Kucherov, McDonagh
Guentzel’s second goal of the series came at 4-on-4 less than 30 seconds into the third period. Kucherov’s backhand pass from behind the goal line met Guentzel near the left post, where Guentzel surprised Bobrovsky for the 3-1 goal.

TBL 4, FLA 1
14:19 Luke Glendening (1) - Yanni Gourde, Gage Goncalves
Another 2-on-1 chance ended with Luke Glendening’s first goal of the playoffs near the right post.

TBL 5, FLA 1
15:00 Anthony Cirelli (1) - Guentzel - EN
An empty-net goal for Anthony Cirelli closed the scoring.

Total shots: FLA 34, TBL 22