SUNRISE, Fla. — It wasn’t the same edge-of-your-seat excitement that we witnessed in the Lightning’s playoff series opener against the Panthers, but Tuesday’s Game 2 was equally important for Tampa Bay to take control of the series.
The Lightning’s 3-1 Game 2 victory over the Panthers didn’t have all the lead changes and the penalties, but the animosity stirring between these teams still continued to boil.
When it comes to closing out games, there’s no team better than the Lightning, who were unbeatable this season when carrying a lead into the final period.
With the win, the Lightning took a commanding two games to none lead. The series shifts to Amalie Arena for Games 3 and 4 on Thursday and Saturday.
The Lightning scored a pair of first-period goals to take an early lead, then held on to protect a one-goal lead until Yanni Gourde’s empty-netter with 1:25 left. The Lightning were 26-0-0 in the regular season when leading after two periods.
In Sunday’s opener, the Lightning took a 3-2 lead into the third, lost it five minutes into the period, only to get a tying power play score and breakaway goal, both from center Brayden Point.
The Lightning preserved Tuesday’s win a different way, by withstanding a Panthers’ third-period charge by bearing down defensively, particularly on the power play.
The Panthers made a bold move, sitting starter Sergei Bobrovsky — a two-time Vezina winner in the second season of a seven-year, $70 million contract, in favor of backup Chris Driedger, who hadn’t made a postseason start until Tuesday but was 2-0-1 against the Lightning in the regular season.
Driedger certainly kept the Panthers in the game, but the Lightning struck quickly, taking advantage of some sloppy Panthers play in their own end. Holding the puck along at the bottom of left circle, Steven Stamkos surveyed the scene as Driedger committed to him, and flicked the puck across the crease to Alex Killorn, but it hit off Anton Stralman trying to cut off the passing lane and into the net, giving the Lighting a 1-0 lead 4:52 into the game.
The Lightning took a two-goal lead with 5:03 left in the third when Nikita Kucherov hit Point in stride through the neutral zone. Point hit another gear, turning the corner on Panthers defenseman MacKenzie Weeger in the left circle before unloading a shot that hit the far post, but Ondrej Palat was perfectly positioned for a backdoor putback.
Mason Marchment tied the score with a goal with 5:39 left in the second period, but the Lightning held Florida scoreless in a third period that included two times when the Lightning killed off a Panthers power play.
Anthony Duclair was gifted an open backdoor look in the third period, but he wasted it shooting wide.
Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 32 shots, including a game-saving stop on Carter Verhaeghe’s backdoor shot inside five minutes.
