Congratulations to the Florida Panthers for advancing to the second round. They were the better team in this game. They were the better team in this series.
As was the case in Game One, the Lightning made numerous, significant defensive mistakes that led to Florida goals. On the first two goals against, they left opposition players wide open in front of Andrei Vasilevskiy. The third Florida goal occurred after the Lightning committed a defensive-zone turnover and then failed to tie up Aleksander Barkov’s stick in the low slot. Barkov tipped in Gustav Forsling’s point shot. The fourth tally began with the Lightning turning the puck over in the offensive zone just as a Tampa Bay power play was about to expire. As the Panthers countered, Sam Bennett left the penalty box, creating a two-on-one rush and the eventual game-winning goal. The fifth tally resulted from another two-on-one, a third-period goal that essentially sealed Tampa Bay’s fate.
As well as the Panthers defended in this series — and they defended for much of the season at a very high level — this wasn’t their best defensive performance. They allowed some Grade-A chances from the middle of the ice. Gage Goncalves and Nick Paul finished opportunities in the first period, helping the Lightning get out of the opening frame in a 2-2 tie. In the second period, the Lightning created other dangerous looks, but Sergei Bobrovsky turned them aside. His two best saves were consecutive point-blank stops on Erik Cernak and Goncalves. Overall, however, the Panthers made far fewer errors and allowed far fewer chances than the Lightning in Game Five.
The Lightning’s third goal did come in the second period — a nice left-circle shot from Jake Guentzel into the top of the net. It was just the Lightning’s second power-play goal of the series, and it momentarily tied the game at three. But the Lightning failed to convert on their next power play. Seconds after it ended, Bennett converted on the two-on-one to give Florida the lead back for good.
The Panthers have a championship pedigree. Entering this matchup against the Lightning, they’d won seven of their previous eight series. They reached that championship level right from the drop of the puck at the start of Game One and maintained it for nearly the entire series.
For the Lightning, it’s a quick exit from the postseason after an encouraging regular season, one in which they improved substantially defensively from last year. But they weren’t able to match the Panthers’ level consistently through the five games. The injury bug also hit the Lightning at the worst possible time. They were without Oliver Bjorkstrand for the series. Anthony Cirelli sustained an injury in Game One and played through it for the remaining four games. Brandon Hagel missed half the series due to suspension and injury.
It was a disappointing end to the 2024-25 season. But that’s typically the case for 31 of 32 NHL teams. Hopefully, Lightning fans enjoyed the many great moments this team gave them over the last six-plus months.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Phil Esposito):
- Eetu Luostarinen — Panthers. Goal and three assists.
- Brad Marchand/Anton Lundell — Panthers. Combined for 1-4-5
- Nick Paul — Lightning. Goal.
