The Tampa Bay Lightning came out flying in the opening minutes of Game 2 on Thursday.
Multiple big hits by the Lightning in their defensive zone were followed by quality scoring chances at the other end, and the home team earned more looks on a power play less than two minutes into their Stanley Cup Playoffs matchup with the Florida Panthers.
Forward Brayden Point found himself alone in front of the Florida net one minute, 50 seconds into the game, but his backhand shot narrowly missed to keep the game knotted at 0-0.
It was Florida that opened the scoring for a second straight game. Defenseman Nate Schmidt scored on his one-timer from the right point 4:15 into the game, moments after the Panthers had killed off its early penalty.
Florida never relinquished that lead despite more fervent pushback from the host Lightning at AMALIE Arena, and the Panthers added an empty-net goal to leave with a 2-0 win and a 2-0 series lead.
“It was a much closer game, a much better effort by us,” Point said postgame. “I thought both goalies played really well. It came down to one goal in the whole game, so I liked what we did tonight, and I think we can take some of the good stuff we did and try to bring it to Florida."
With the Lightning trailing 1-0 late in the second period, Nikita Kucherov found a waiting Jake Guentzel at the far left side of the offensive blueline. Guentzel dished to Point for a short spree alone on Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, but the goalie was there for the save with two minutes left in the middle frame.
"We had enough chances in a game this tight. Some nights they go in. Actually, most nights they go in,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “Tonight they didn't, unfortunately. So it's tough, but these are two good, tight teams. So I don't think there were scoring chances either way that we were sitting and going, ‘Holy cow’. Teams check, that's what happens. It's the playoffs.”
Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy had a strong performance in the defensive end, finishing with 21 saves on 22 Florida shots. Trailing 1-0 midway through the third period, Tampa Bay erased a five-minute Florida power play to keep their deficit to a single goal.
The hosts earned numerous chances in tight to the Florida net both on the power play and at even strength on Thursday, but none of those pucks found the back of the Panthers net.
Florida erased five different Lightning power plays, and Bobrovsky stopped all 19 shots he faced for a shutout and the 2-0 victory.
Tampa Bay will seek its first win of the series as play shifts to Sunrise for Game 3, scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday.
“I thought we pushed hard, just didn’t get the result,” Guentzel said. “There’s no quit in this locker room. It’s the first to four (wins) for a reason. Just gotta go get one game at a time and go from there.”
Tampa Bay hasn’t lost faith, and they believe they have what it takes to come back in this series.
“Everyone’s probably going to be talking that we’re done, but we believe in this locker room we can come back and we’ve done it all year,” Guentzel said. “But we believe in this locker room we can come back, and we’ve done it all year. So for us to go on the road and be together as a team, I think it’s going to be backs against the wall for all of us.”
Benjamin’s Three Stars:
1. Sergei Bobrovsky, FLA (19-save shutout)
2. Andrei Vasilevskiy, TBL (21 saves)
3. Nate Schmidt, FLA (Goal)
