It seems turn around is fair play, right?
In Tampa, the Florida Panthers used two third period goals to rally from a 3-5 deficit on Thursday night to force overtime with the Lightning.
Ryan Lomberg scored in the sixth minute of the extra session to give the Panthers a 6-5 win, and get them back in the series.
“Frank (Vatrano) made a nice play advancing the puck behind their [defensemen], and I was in alone,” Lomberg said. “It was a great play all around. Good execution.”
The series is now 2-1 in Tampa’s favor.
“You’re not going to win 16 games and not lose any (in the Stanley Cup Playoffs). It’s a process,” the Lightning’s Victor Hedman said. “We’re obviously not happy with the way we played the third period. But you’re going to get ups and downs during a playoff series and it’s how you respond as a group.”
Patric Hornqvist (power play) and Gustav Forsling scored in the third period to get the Panthers even.
Chris Driedger got the start for the Panthers but was given the hook in the second intermission, he yielded five goals and made 17 saves.
Sergei Bobrovsky iced the third period and overtime; he made nine saves to get the win.
“After the second period a couple guys stepped up,” Bobrovsky said. “This team has tremendous ability to come back, it doesn’t matter how much of a deficit we have. It’s one of those games we get together, one at a time, and we pulled out a W. It’s a big win for us.”
After the Panthers took a 2-0 lead in the first period, Anthony Cirelli,Ross Colton and Steven Stamkos gave the Lightning a 3-2 lead.
Florida tied it, 3-3, on a goal by Alex Wennberg in the middle frame.
“We were in a good spot after the first period, 2-0, and we do that in the second period,” Florida’s Jonathan Huberdeau said. “We just have to be smarter with decisions, play our game. We had to assess that after the second, not panic, but you don’t want to go down 3-0 in the series, and the guys answered the bell in the third period, worked hard and it’s a huge comeback for us.”
Two power-play strikes by the Lightning from Brayden Point and Alex Killorn gave Tampa a 5-3 lead headed to the third period.
Bobrovsky stopped all four shots he faced in the third period, and stopped
Sam Bennett and Radko Gudas scored in the first period for the 2-0 lead to the Panthers.
“Couldn’t be more proud with the way the guys competed in the third as a team,” Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville said. “Look at what could have happened and where we would have been at, and now all of a sudden the picture changes completely in a short amount of time.”
Game 4 is set for Tampa on Saturday.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 41 saves in the loss.
“Credit to them,” Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper said. “It’d be disappointing if they didn’t push, facing the fact they could’ve gone down 0-3. And we could’ve done a better job making ourselves be going up 3-0. But I don’t think anyone expected this to be a sweep. I think people expected this to be a really good series, and it has been.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.