In Tampa, the game between the Lightning and the Florida Panthers had a little of everything including a seven-goal middle frame where the Panthers outscored the Bolts, 4-3, in a 6-4 win on Monday night.
“Good bounce-back game,” Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville said. “They bounced back after the first game and we bounced back after the second game. We did some good things today. A lot of pucks went in the net. We had a real good last ten minutes of the game.”
Chris Driedger made 27 saves to get the tough win for Florida.
Alexander Volkov struck twice for Tampa, and Steven Stamkos and Tyler Johnson added single markers in the loss.
“A lot of odd-mans, breakaways and looks that we pride ourselves on not giving up, especially that many in a game.” the Lightning’s Ryan McDonagh said. “We needed to make it hard on them like we did last game. We didn’t do that enough tonight.”
Jonathan Huberdeau and Owen Tippett erased an early 1-0 Tampa lead when they gave the Panthers a 2-1 advantage.
“They didn’t do anything really to us, it was all self-inflicted,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “Like the first one, self-inflicted. The second one, self-inflicted, we had full control of the puck and we just handed it over to them. Sometimes you get what you deserve, and we got what we deserved tonight.”
Frank Vatrano scored on a penalty shot for Florida.
“I thought the game was winnable the whole time.” Cooper said. “We scored four. I felt great going into the third period, and to give up a goal in the first minute is inexcusable.”
Anton Stralman gave the Panthers a two-goal lead early in the third period for some breathing in an otherwise tense affair.
“We had a good start to the period, got some goals and you saw they got desperate and upped their game and we couldn’t handle their surge,” Stralman said. “It turned out to be wild, and then it kind of settled down in the third.”
Anthony Duclair also scored for Florida when he made it a 4-1 lead for the Panthers.
“It was a great feeling,” Duclair said. “I knew it was coming. Just happy to get one.”
Curtis McElhinney made 15 saves in the loss.
“We were playing slow and turning pucks over,” Tampa’s Pat Maroon said. “We were just too slow in the D-zone, especially against that team. We shot ourselves in the foot. That’s not how we’re supposed to be playing.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.