RECAP: Panthers 6, Lightning 3

TAMPA – For the second straight season, the Battle of Florida goes to the East Coast.

Besting their in-state rival, the Florida Panthers eliminated the Tampa Bay Lightning from the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 6-3 win in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Amalie Arena on Wednesday.

Winning the series 4-1, the Panthers are moving on to Round 2 for the fourth straight year.

"You have a goal every round, and it's to play at your best and take control of moments and be big when opportunities present themselves like tonight,” said forward Brad Marchand, who had two assists in the win. “There's so much experience in this room, a lot of guys that have been there and been through it and realize the importance of closing out a series when you have that opportunity.”

Breaking the ice and bringing the home crowd to life early in the first period, Gage Concalves beat Sergei Bobrovsky from the right side of the net to make it 1-0 at 2:33.

Getting that goal back for the Panthers, Carter Verhaeghe got to the front of the net on the power play, grabbed a rebound and sent it into the twine to make it 1-1 at 5:21.

Going back to the regular season, Verhaeghe has notched five goals in his last nine games.

Putting the Panthers on top, Marchand carried the puck into the zone before firing a laser of a pass straight into the slot that hit off Anton Lundell and past Andrei Vasilevskiy to make it 2-1 at 10:16.

Just over two minutes later, the Lightning got the score back to even when Conor Geekie forced a turnover before setting up Nick Paul for a goal from the slot to make it 2-2 at 12:16.

Making sure the game would stay tied heading into the intermission, the Panthers came up big once again on the penalty kill, which was highlighted by a diving clear from Gustav Forsling.

“Huge,” Forsling said of Florida’s work on the penalty kill, which finished at an outstanding 88.9% in the series. “That’s how you win series. You need your PK to be on point.”

Coming out of the locker room on a mission, the Panthers regained their lead just 52 seconds into the second period when captain Aleksander Barkov, leading the charge as he often does, tipped in a hefty point blast from Forsling into the cage to make it 3-2.

Ushering in some “Bob-by” chants in enemy territory, Bobrovsky stole the show with one his biggest stops since last year’s “Bobbery” -- which also came against Tampa Bay -- when he sprawled out to rob Goncalves on a point-blank shot.

“Bobby, he just does it over and over again,” said forward Sam Bennett, who would have his own big moment later in the game. “You can’t even be surprised anymore because you know he’s going to make those saves. It was at a crucial time in the game that could’ve changed the trajectory of the game. He’s pretty incredible with his timing of those massive saves to keep us in games. It definitely gave us a ton of energy and life on the bench.”

After coming up empty on 15 straight trips to the power play, the Lightning finally cashed in when Jake Guentzel buried a shot from the top of the left circle to make it 3-3 at 9:57.

The brightest star for the Lightning, Guentzel finished with a team-high six points (three goals, three assists) in the series.

Back on the penalty kill soon after, the Panthers held their ground the second time.

Gaining some momentum from that clutch kill, Bennett, who came flying out of the box right after Tampa Bay’s power play expired, took a pass from Lundell and ripped blocker-side shot past Vasilevskiy to put the Panthers on top 4-3 at 15:13.

“Definitely a little weight off my shoulders,” said Bennett, who was in the box for Tampa Bay's previous power-play goal.

Earning the secondary assist on Bennett’s go-ahead goal, Eetu Luostarinen became just the ninth player in franchise history to record at least three helpers in a single playoff game.

Keeping the Lightning in the game in the third period, Vasilevskiy robbed Lundell, who stripped Nick Perbix in the neutral zone, on a breakaway with 13:24 left in regulation.

Matching Vasilevskiy, Bobrovsky denied Nikita Kucherov on a scary shot soon after.

Not satisfied with his three assists, Luostarinen provided the dagger for the Panthers when he powered a cross-ice feed from Marchand past Vasilevskiy to make it 5-3 at 13:02.

From unsung hero to just a regular hero, Luostarinen is only the fourth player in franchise history to record at least four points in a playoff game, joining Sam Reinhart (4), Ray Sheppard (4) and Verhaeghe (5).

Standing alone, he’s the first Panther to ever have four points in a road playoff game.

“I think we just tried to keep it simple as it gets,” Luostarinen said. “Tonight, it went our way. It feels good to contribute in the offensive end as well. That’s a team win and a good series.”

With 4:24 left on the clock, Reinhart increased Florida’s lead to 6-3 with an empty-net goal.

In the quest to keep Lord Stanley in South Florida, the Panthers have passed their first test with flying colors.

Now, they’ll face either the Toronto Maple Leafs or Ottawa Senators in Round 2.

Holding a 3-2 lead in that series, the Maple Leafs will visit the Senators on Thursday.

“It means a lot,” Barkov said of advancing to Round 2. “Obviously, we’re doing some things right. Most of the guys have been through this for a long time. We know what it takes, and we keep working for that. I know every year it (the first round of the playoffs) gets harder and harder, and this year it was even harder. We’re happy with the end result.”

THEY SAID IT

“The guys did a great job. Even when we scored early, we didn’t sit back. We continued to push and get better as the game went on. Obviously, Bob (Sergei Bobrovsky) came up huge a few times to keep us in it at the right moments. Yeah, it was great.” – Brad Marchand

“Huge. Great feeling. I’m happy how we played in the third period and pretty much the whole game. They came back a couple times, but we stayed with it, stayed calm, and Bobby (Sergei Bobrovsky) was huge for us back there.” – Gustav Forsling

“Every year, it (the Battle of Florida) just keeps getting harder and harder. They’ve won Cups and have been in the Finals. They know what it takes, and now we’ve done the same thing. We also know. It’s a really hard series.” – Aleksander Barkov

CATS STATS

- Aleksander Barkov is the fourth player in franchise history to score 20 career playoff goals.

- Carter Verhaeghe scored his eight goal in a potential series-clinching game.

- The Panthers have won nine of their last 11 playoff rounds.

- Gustav Forsling blocked a team-high five shots.

- Dmitry Kulikov recorded a team-high seven hits.

- Sam Reinhart registered a team-high seven shots on goal.

- Sergei Bobrovsky made five high-danger saves, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Now, we play the waiting game.

As the Panthers await their Round 2 opponent, stay tuned to FloridaPanthers.com.

“Regroup, recover and onto the next one,” Forsling said.