TAMPA, Fla. — The Florida Panthers have never feared Andrei Vasilevskiy this year. It didn’t matter how how many game-changing acrobatic saves he made, how many power-play chances he denied or how loudly the crowd at Amalie Arena chanted, “Vasy! Vasy!” The Panthers beat the star goaltender more often than anyone else in the regular season and scored four on him in Game 1 of their first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. A two-goal deficit to start the third period Thursday — with their season effectively on the line — was not a death sentence.
Less than two minutes into the third, Patric Hornqvist cut the Lightning’s lead to one on a power-play goal. With 3:07 left, Gustav Forsling sent Game 3 to overtime with an uncontested wrist shot from the slot to keep Florida’s hopes a first-round comeback reasonably alive. Less than six minutes into overtime, Ryan Lomberg delivered Florida a 6-5, overtime win in Tampa.
At the end of another wild first-round game between in-state rivals, the Panthers picked up their first ever postseason win against the Lightning to cut Tampa Bay’s series lead to 2-1 and guarantee at least one more game back in Sunrise on Monday.
Even before Game 3 began, Florida dripped with desperation. Coach Joel Quenneville sent Sergei Bobrovsky to the bench instead of sticking with Florida’s usual alternating-goaltender routine. He changed up nearly all of his lines with versatile forward Sam Bennett returning from a one-game suspension. Most surprisingly, he scratched Keith Yandle even though the defenseman doesn’t have any sort of disclosed injury.
Initially, every change worked. With a new-look defense in front of him, Driedger stopped all 10 shots he faced in the first period. Bennett, reunited with All-Star left wing Jonathan Huberdeau and right wing Owen Tippett, gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead on a one-timer from Huberdeau with 15:29 left in the first period. Even defenseman Radko Gudas, Yandle’s usual partner, scored his first career playoff goal to put Florida ahead 2-0 with 12:55 left in the first.
After opening Game 3 with one of their best periods of the postseason, the Panthers unraveled in the second.
Tampa Bay centers Anthony Cirelli, Ross Colton and Steven Stamkos all scored in the first 8:38 of the second period to turn Florida’s 2-0 lead into a 3-2 deficit. After the Panthers answered with a power-play goal, the Lightning hit back with two power-play goals of its own to take its own two-goal lead.
With four seconds left on the first power play of the game, forward Alex Wennberg beat Vasilevskiy on a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle to knot the game at 3-3 with 7:26 left.
Not even two minutes later, Tampa Bay forward Brayden Point put the Lighting back ahead 4-3 on a power-play goal from the slot and Killorn gave Tampa Bay its two-goal cushion four minutes later on another power play.
Throughout the comeback, the crowd at Amalie Arena seldom went more than a few minutes without chanting for Vasilevskiy, who’s favored to win his second Vezina Trophy in three years.
The goalie faced 17 shots in the second and only gave up the power-play goal. Earlier on the power play, he withstood a scrum around the net, which ended with all 10 skaters piled around him and star center Aleksander Barkov throwing punches with versatile Tampa Bay forward Yanni Gourde. A minute before Killorn scored, Vasilevskiy broke up a likely shorthanded goal when he dove forward to poke the puck away from MacKenzie Weegar as the star defenseman lined up a backhand against an open net.
On the other end, Driedger gave up five goals on 12 shots in the second period alone and forced Quenneville once again to make a chance.
Bobrovsky rolled back out for the third period and finally shut down Tampa Bay. He stopped all six shots he faced in the third, then helped the Panthers get through a Lightning power play unscathed to start overtime.
With 14:04 left in the first overtime period, Lomberg delivered one of the biggest goals in franchise history. The right wing chased down a loose puck across the blue line, flipped it past Vasilevskiy and turned a potential sweep into perhaps the thrilling series all of Florida expected.
