For a moment on Monday, the Tampa Bay Lightning appeared to have the game-tying goal in a rivalry matchup at Benchmark International Arena against the Florida Panthers.
The crossbar had other ideas, and the puck bounced away from the net of Tampa Bay’s in-state rival just minutes into the first period after striking iron. The Panthers carried the puck the other way, scoring 12 seconds later to take a 2-0 lead.
They never gave that lead away in a 5-2 win over the Lightning.
“That's part of hockey,” Lightning forward Brayden Point said of the turnaround. “You see it a lot. A missed chance at one end, and they go down and score at the other. But you know, there was lots of hockey left to be played at that point, and I think the rest of the game, we didn't generate enough to win.”
Tampa Bay is now 18-12-3 this season. Their next game comes Thursday at home against the Los Angeles Kings.
The Panthers jumped out to an early lead on Monday with a shorthanded goal.
Forward Sam Reinhart gained possession of the puck in the defensive zone, skated down the right side of the ice and sent his shot five-hole from the right faceoff circle 2 minutes, 16 seconds into the game on a shorthanded rush.
Florida doubled its lead on another rush chance only 1:32 after the opening goal.
After Yanni Gourde’s one-timer from the bottom of the right circle hit the crossbar but stayed out in the Florida end, Panthers forward Anton Lundell accepted a pass in the neutral zone and skated to the right circle before firing his shot inside the left goalpost to make it 2-0 Florida.
“We didn’t overcome it tonight,” Cooper said of the team’s start. “In the end, you started the game and gave up, for all intents and purposes, two shorthanded goals in the first four minutes of the game. That's not putting your best foot forward, and we just couldn't recover.”
Florida built on its lead in the second period.
Forward Brad Marchand broke a scoreless middle frame when he powered to the net and redirected a pass from Carter Verhaege from the sidewall with 8:12 remaining. Reinhart’s second goal of the game then came on a chance from the left faceoff dot on a Panthers power play late in the period for a 4-0 lead.
One positive note for the home team came from defenseman Max Crozier, who scored his first career NHL goal with 33 seconds remaining in the second period.
Crozier accepted a pass from Oliver Bjorkstrand at the point before skating to the top of the right faceoff circle and blasting a slap shot into the top left corner of the Panthers’ net to ruin the shutout bid for Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who finished the night with 26 saves and the win.
Crozier now has five points in 15 games this season.
“It was a really nice pass by Bjorky and a good screen by Guentz, and I picked my shot,” Crozier said of the play. “But it would have been nicer to get the win, for sure.”
Lightning defenseman JJ Moser cut the home team’s deficit to two goals early in the third period, making it 4-2 Florida when he faked a slap shot before scoring on a snap shot 2:11 into the final frame.
Moser now has goals in back-to-back games for Tampa Bay.
Florida got the goal back a short while later with Verhaege’s backhand deposit on a rush chance to close the scoring with a 5-2 final.
Lightning goalie Jonas Johansson finished with 19 saves, while defenseman Darren Raddysh and Point each extended their respective point streaks to four games for Tampa Bay with assists.
Cooper felt Monday was the result of two tired teams facing off.
“You’ve got one team in Florida on their fourth game of a road trip in a couple different time zones, so they're tired. You've got us, It's our fifth game in a row in five different cities. So it's what I thought were two tired hockey teams,” Cooper said.
“It was like being in the American (Hockey) League playing three (games) in three (days), and it's that Sunday game where you're grinding, and what happens in those games is you’ve gotta get the lead. You get the lead, there's a good chance you're gonna win that game. And I thought it would look like two tired hockey teams, and they got the lead and hung onto it.”
Benjamin’s Three Stars:
- Sam Reinhart, FLA (2 goals)
- Sergei Bobrovsky, FLA (26 saves, win)
- JJ Moser, TBL (Goal)
