Panthers pull away in 3rd, eliminate Lightning with win in Game 5

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe each had two goals and an assist, and the Florida Panthers eliminated the Tampa Bay Lightning with a 6-1 win in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday.

The Panthers will face the Boston Bruins or Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round. The Bruins lead that best-of-7 series 3-1 with Game 5 on Tuesday.

“Just to be in a playoff series against your biggest rival is so cool and so much fun to begin with,’’ Florida forward Matthew Tkachuk said. “To come out on top, be a part of the team that was able to do that for the first time makes it more special. … We’re probably going to be playing our next-biggest rival, so there will not be an emotional letdown.”

Niko Mikkola had a goal and an assist, and Evan Rodrigues scored for the Panthers, who are the No. 1 seed from the Atlantic Division. Tkachuk had two assists, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves.

“Every series is different and this group of guys is special,” Bobrovsky said. “We work so hard to have structure and everyone executed it. We are really close, really love each other.”

Victor Hedman scored for the Lightning, who were the first wild card from the East. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 33 saves.

Tampa Bay has been eliminated in the first round in each of the past two postseasons after making three consecutive trips to the Stanley Cup Final from 2020-22. The Lightning won the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021.

“Some casual fans will wake up in the morning and be like, ‘Well, Tampa Bay got blown out,’” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “Anyone who follows this game knows that was not the case. There were a lot of things that didn’t go our way tonight, lot of things that didn’t go our way in the series. … I know how fortunate our teams have been when we have won. You make your own breaks.”

Tampa Bay appeared to take a 1-0 lead at 13:00 of the first period on Anthony Cirelli’s shot from the slot, but the goal was overturned after Florida successfully challenged for goalie interference.

Verhaeghe then gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead 45 seconds into the second period. His shot from the slot was stopped by Vasilevskiy, but he chased down the puck and scored on the rebound.

Barkov made it 2-0 at 12:38, scoring a short-handed goal by following up the rebound of Aaron Ekblad's point shot.

“It feels nice to score goals, but I have said before that it does not matter on our team,” Barkov said. “Obviously, a lot of them have come from [Verhaeghe], he gets a ton of big ones in the playoffs and regular season. Every player in our lineup can score, can do anything on the ice. That is what makes us special.”

Hedman cut it to 2-1 at 13:37 with a slap shot from above the circles.

Mikhail Sergachev appeared to score again for Tampa Bay on a one-timer from the slot at 17:48, but the goal was immediately waved off for goalie interference on Cirelli. Tampa Bay challenged the play, but the call was confirmed following a video review.

“We saw it one way, and they reviewed it, talked to Toronto about it, and it is what it is,” Cirelli said. “It doesn’t go our way. We were trying to be at the net, perhaps too aggressively in their eyes. It’s out of our control once they review it. … It was our job to keep battling, keep working to get the next one.”

Barkov made it 3-1 at 11:06 of the third, tipping in a loose puck which had been blocked in front.

Rodrigues extended it to 4-1 at 14:16 when he one-timed a pass from Kevin Stenlund from the left circle.

Verhaeghe scored into an empty net at 16:03 to make it 5-1 before Mikkola also scored an empty-net goal at 18:50 for the 6-1 final.

Tampa Bay had knocked Florida out of the playoffs in the previous two meetings between the teams in 2021 and 2022.

“They had our number the past couple of years,’’ said Verhaeghe, who signed with the Panthers as a free agent after winning the Stanley Cup with the Lightning in 2020. “Finally, we got one on them. It feels good.”

Florida was swept in the second round by the Lightning in 2022, leading to changes within the team, including the hiring of coach Paul Maurice and the acquisition of Tkachuk.

“When there is one team that always kind of beats you in the playoffs, both times in similar situations where we had home-ice advantage, you want to beat them, get over that hump," Barkov said. "We respected them. They have been unbelievable in past years. … There is a lot to learn from that team and that organization. So, it definitely feels great now to be able to beat them.’’

Although Maurice was not with the Panthers the last time the two state rivals played, he said he knew this series was different.

“I am really happy for the players who went through the pain of not having success,” Maurice said. “Two critical guys in the game … Barkov and Bobrovsky, when you are the No. 1 goaltender and the captain, and a series doesn’t go your way, most guys look at them. They have to answer for it. Those guys were good tonight, good the whole series. They dealt with some pain in that loss.’’

NOTES: Verhaeghe extended his postseason point streak to five games, which is tied with Barkov (2021) and Jason Woolley (1996) for the longest by a Panthers player. … Florida is 7-0 in series-clinching games when scoring first. … Barkov is the fifth player in Panthers history to score a short-handed goal in the playoffs. The only other to do so in a potential series-clinching game was Bill Lindsay (Game 6, 1996 Conference Semifinals).