Finley scores 1st NHL goal, lifts Lightning past Panthers

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Jack Finley broke a tie in the third period with his first NHL goal, helping the Tampa Bay Lightning defeat the Florida Panthers 3-1 at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.

Emil Lilleberg and Zemgus Girgensons also scored for the Lightning (9-6-2), who have won eight of their past 10. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves, including 10 in the third.

“We had a plan, and we executed it,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “The goalie, when you break down, has to make a save. And he did. It was not so much the offensive effort but the defensive effort that we knew would give us a chance to win the game. We were proved right.”

Brad Marchand scored to extend his personal point streak to 10 games for the Panthers (9-8-1), who had won two in a row. Sergei Bobrovsky made 17 saves.

“It was a good game, two real good teams playing one another,” Bobrovsky said. “I thought we worked hard, it was a tie game, but unfortunately we didn’t get the points. … There is a rivalry we have. We have faced them a lot lately.”

It was the first regular-season matchup between the teams since Florida defeated Tampa Bay in the Eastern Conference First Round last season, winning the best-of-7 series in five games.

“It felt good getting two points in this building,” Lightning forward Yanni Gourde said.

Finley, playing his seventh NHL game, put the Lightning ahead 2-1 at 4:09. After Curtis Douglas chipped a pass up the middle, Finley scored on a breakaway with a backhand around Bobrovsky at the left post.

“My line has been pretty good the past two games, made a couple good plays out of the D-zone,” Finley said. “I had a breakaway earlier on Bobrovsky and it came out, so I told myself on the bench that if I had another one, I was going to make a move on him. And I actually did. So, it was good. … I don’t think I have ever gotten two breakaways in my life. That happened quick.

“It was great. He’s a great goalie, played great tonight. Both goalies gave their team a chance.”

Of Finley’s goal, Cooper said, “If you’re going to get your first, might as well make it a game-winner. … We need you to finish, and the kid finished. That was a big one.”

Lilleberg gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 12:19 of the first period. Nikita Kucherov fed him in the left face-off circle, where he scored with a wrist shot to the short side.

Marchand tied it 1-1 on the power play at 11:31 of the second period, scoring from the slot with a wrist shot past the glove following a scramble after a face-off in the left circle.

After Finley’s go-ahead goal early in the third, Girgensons scored into an empty net at 19:09 for the 3-1 final.

Florida was 4-for-4 on the penalty kill; Tampa Bay was 4-for-5, including killing off the Panthers’ four-minute power play after Erik Cernak was assessed a double-minor for high-sticking on Evan Rodrigues at 8:09 of the third with the Lightning holding a 2-1 lead.

Rodrigues left the game but returned after getting stitches.

The Panthers had 23 shots on goal but were credited with 52 attempts. The Lightning had 14 blocked shots.

“They did a real job blocking shots,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “We had [29] that never got to the net and that’s a challenge. They got in the shot lanes pretty good, and I think we rushed a bunch to the net.”

NOTES: Kucherov (assist) has 77 points (26 goals, 51 assists) in 59 games against the Panthers, including the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Those are the most points he has against any franchise. … Marchand, 37, has 15 points (nine goals, six assists) in his 10-game streak and is the oldest player in Florida history to have such a run. Jussi Jokinen scored in 10 consecutive games as a 32-year-old from Feb. 20-March 12, 2016. Marchand is also the third NHL player in the past 10 years with a point in 10 consecutive games at age 37 or older, following Sidney Crosby (12 games; March 9-April 5, 2025) and Alex Ovechkin (10 games; Jan. 24-Feb. 22, 2024).