Reinhart scores twice, Panthers defeat Lightning

TAMPA -- Sam Reinhart scored twice for Florida Panthers in a 5-2 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Benchmark International Arena on Monday.

Carter Verhaeghe had a goal and an assist, and Brad Marchand and Anton Lundell also scored for the Panthers (17-13-2), who have won five of six and closed out their four-game road trip with a 3-1-0 record. Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves.

"Our best players were our best players tonight," Florida coach Paul Maurice said. "Sergei made two or three saves early in the game when we got out to a lead. Getting out to a lead and our penalty kill (5-for-5) would be the story. Scoring goals and being able to keep that power play off the score sheet, those were the two driving elements."

J.J. Moser and Max Crozier scored for the Lightning (18-12-3), who had their three-game point streak end (2-0-1). Jonas Johansson made 19 saves.

"You've got one team in Florida on their fourth game of a road trip in a couple of different time zones, so they're tired," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "You've got us, basically ... this is our fifth game in five different cities. I thought they looked like two tired hockey teams. They got the lead and hung on to it. With tired hockey teams mistakes are made. They capitalized on theirs and we didn't."

Reinhart gave Florida a 1-0 lead with a short-handed goal at 2:16 of the first period. Aaron Ekblad chipped the puck up to Reinhart in the Panthers' defensive zone, and Reinhart skated down the ice on a 2-on-1 before beating Johansson five-hole with a wrist shot from the right circle.

Lundell extended the lead to 2-0 at 3:48 when he finished a 3-on-1 rush with a wrist shot to the far side from the right circle.

"When we play with that pace and intensity, that's when [Bobrovsky] is at his best," Reinhart. "We got out to that little lead, and I thought after the first they probably created more, but I liked the way we stuck with it and brought it back to them. That's a big win for us."

Marchand made it 3-0 at 11:48 of the second period when he deflected Verhaeghe's pass under Johansson's right pad from the low slot.

"I think tonight we were trying to force things, and maybe that's why they extended the lead," Lightning forward Brayden Point said. "I think if we stick with our game we have a chance to come back. They don't give you a whole lot, especially in their end, but it's about not getting frustrated and sticking with our game plan."

Reinhart scored his second of the game on the power play to push the lead to 4-0 at 18:08. He buried a wrist shot from the left circle off a cross-ice pass from Mackie Samoskevich.

"He played 31 shifts for us tonight, but he did it in about 22 minutes," Maurice said of Reinhart. "He played an incredibly smart game. He knows when to push on the power play, run the penalty kill and when to take a chance. Sam's the driver of both units."

Crozier, who was playing in his 33rd NHL game, scored his first career goal to make it 4-1 at 19:27. He scored with a slap shot from above the right circle that beat Bobrovsky to the far post through a screen.

"That was definitely not how we wanted to start the game, but we had pretty much three full periods to get it back. So for us, we've got to be better," Crozier said. "We needed to fight back harder and we had a lot of time to fight back."

Moser cut the deficit to 4-2 at 2:11 of the third period with a wrist shot short side from the left circle. Florida challenged the play for goaltender interference, but the call was upheld after a video review.

Verhaeghe extended Florida's lead to 5-2 at 6:37. Uvis Balinskis took the puck after Crozier broke his stick in the neutral zone and passed it forward to Verhaeghe, who scored with a backhand off the right post as he cut to the net.

"We had a great start to the game and we carried it through three periods," Ekblad said. "Obviously, we're extremely happy with the game and the road trip. 'Bob' made some huge saves. It's never easy on the road. We feel pretty confident in our game right now."

NOTES: Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling left the game early in the third period after blocking a shot off his left arm from Nikita Kucherov. Maurice said he'll be examined Tuesday. ... Reinhart has four career games with both a short-handed and power-play goal, the most in Panthers history. His short-handed goal was the 13th of his career with Florida, tying Aleksander Barkov for the second-most in franchise history, behind Radek Dvorak (16). ... Verhaeghe has 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) in his past 10 games. ... Lightning forward Brandon Hagel left the game early in the third period after taking a forearm to the head from Seth Jones. ... Point extended his point streak to four games (two goals, five assists). ... Tampa Bay forward Nick Paul played in his 500th NHL game.