SUNRISE, Fla. – If at first you don’t succeed, try again.
Taking a second whack at punching their ticket to Round 2, the Florida Panthers will host the cross-state rival Tampa Bay Lightning for Game 5 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday.
Back home with a 3-1 series lead, the Panthers are confident they can close things out.
“We’re in a great mood,” Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling said. “Obviously not happy with last game, but everyone’s excited to be back on home ice.”
Staving off elimination, the Lightning avoided being swept by the Panthers with a 6-3 win at Amalie Arena on Saturday. After three straight strong starts from the Panthers in the series, the first period of Game 4 belonged to the Lightning, who led 3-0 after the first 20 minutes.
Not backing down, Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Reinhart and Oliver Ekman-Larsson all lit the lamp for the Panthers in the second period to make it a 4-3 game heading into the third. But in the final frame, Steven Stamkos and Nick Paul each scored to give the Lightning a 6-3 win.
Leading the charge up front for Tampa Bay, Stamkos has scored in every game of the series.
“We know we didn’t like parts of our game,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. “Pretty obvious, especially in about the first 13 minutes. Even though the shot total was 2-1, I think, late, even after their first power play, there were some things that didn’t look like us.”
With the whistles blowing early and often, four of the Lightning’s six goals in Game 4 came while play was either at 5-on-4 or 4-on-4. Brandon Hagel, who scored twice for Tampa Bay, also tacked on a shorthanded goal in the first period. At 5-on-5, Florida led 3-1 in goals.
Overall, the Lightning have a 17-9 edge in trips to the power play in the series.
“Last game we took too many penalties, and that was the key why they won,” Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola said. “We just need to stay out of the box. I think the PK has been pretty good.”
As it has been in each of the first four games of the tight-checking series, the Panthers and Lightning will both roll with their No. 1 option in the crease in Game 5. Sergei Bobrovsky will get the nod for the Panthers, while Andrei Vasilevskiy is expected to start for the Lightning.
Earlier this morning, Bobrovsky was named a finalist for the Vezina Trophy.
“Your name doesn’t come up if you’re just hot for a month or two,” Maurice said of Bobrovsky, who won the award in 2017 and 2013. “That’s a season-long run of outstanding goaltending. It’s the amount of time he’s put in over the course of his career. He’s put himself in position to be a man of his age and to be at the elite part of his game.”
When it comes to tonight’s tilt, the Panthers are focused on getting off to a good start.
Prior to being giving up three goals in the first period of Game 4, they’d outscored Tampa Bay 4-1 in the first period over the first three games of the series. With the first cut often being the deepest, the team that’s scored first has also won each game in the series.
“We know how effective they can be when they score,” Forsling said. “That’s what we want to shut down. Just get the first goal and get rolling.”
While there’s no lineup changes expected for the Panthers in Game 5, Maurice has recently given updates on sidelined forwards Sam Bennett (upper body) and Ryan Lomberg (illness).
Lomberg, who’s been out since Game 1, has returned to practice, but will need a few days to “get his engine back.” Bennett, who’s been out since Game 2, is “doing well” in his recovery and should begin skating again in the near future as his swelling has gone down.
"It was going to be a week-plus, and we're still there,” Maurice said of Bennett’s injury.
As it has been all series, updates on the Lightning’s lineup won’t come until warmups.
CATS PLAYOFF LEADERS
Goals: Tkachuk, Reinhart, Verhaeghe (3)
Assists: Tkachuk (4)
Points: Tkachuk (7)
Hits: Rodrigues, Mikkola, Reinhart, Ekblad (17)
Blocks: Montour (9)
BOLTS PLAYOFF LEADERS
Goals: Stamkos (5)
Assists: Kucherov, Hedman (6)
Points: Stamkos, Kucherov, Hedman (6)
Hits: Dumba (23)
Blocks: Cernak, Raddysh, Cirelli, Dumba, Hedman (6)
THEY SAID IT
“We’re comfortable with the 5-on-5 play. I think that’s the key, to stay out of the box. 5-on-5, we’re looking pretty good.” – Oliver Ekman-Larsson
“We’re up 3-1. It’s going to be a fun game, a home game. It’s exciting. We’re still in the leader’s seat.” – Kevin Stenlund
“At 5-on-5, we like our game. Their power play is really good. We want to try and stay out of the box.” – Gustav Forsling
“It’s unreal. Especially for playoff games at home, the crowd has been amazing. We just expect good support and a loud rink. It’s going to be nice.” – Niko Mikkola
FIVE CATS STATS
- Carter Verhaeghe and Matthew Tkachuk are each on four-game point streaks.
- The Panthers have recorded at least 50 hits in every game in the series.
- Florida leads 101-79 in scoring chances at 5-on-5 in the series.
- Sergei Bobrovsky has made 26 high-danger saves in the series.
- The Panthers have led 37-20 in 5-on-5 shot attempts when Kevin Stenlund has been deployed in the series.
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Forwards
Vladimir Tarasenko – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Anton Lundell – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Kevin Stenlund – Evan Rodrigues
Nick Cousins – Steven Lorentz – Kyle Okposo
Defensemen
Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Brandon Montour
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Dmitry Kulikov
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Anthony Stolarz
RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
- April 12: F Wilmer Skoog signed to a one-year, two-way contract commencing in 2024-25
- April 12: F Oliver Okuliar signed to a one-year ELC commencing in 2024-25
- April 10: D Mikulas Hovorka signed to a two-year ELC commencing in 2024-25
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
When: Monday, April 29 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
TV & Streaming: Bally Sports Florida, Bally Sports+, ESPN, ESPN+
Radio: 790 WAXY (Dade/Broward); 92.1 WZZR (Palm Beach); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); 101.7 WCZR (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM Ch. 219 / App & Streaming 932; Panthers App
Tickets: Click Here
