Brayden Point had a pair of goals to tie, then win the game for the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-4, over the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center in Game 1 of their 2021 First Round matchup on Sunday.
The Bolts stole a game on the road and took a 1-0 series lead as a result.
Andrei Vasilevskiy (1-0, 4.07 goals-against average, .897 save percentage in one game played) made 35 saves on 39 shots against in Sunday night’s barnburner victory for Tampa.
Meanwhile, Florida netminder, Sergei Bobrovsky (0-1, 5.08 goals-against average, .875 save percentage in one game played), stopped 35 out of 40 shots faced in the loss.
The Panthers and Lightning are meeting for the first time in a postseason series as the two clubs had never met before in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, despite being located in the same state (let alone the same division).
Florida enters the 2021 First Round having made their 7th postseason appearance in franchise history. The Panthers haven’t won a playoff series since 1996.
Meanwhile, Tampa is making their 13th appearance in the playoffs having won their 2nd Stanley Cup title in 2020.
Bolts captain, Steven Stamkos, and Lightning forward, Nikita Kucherov, were back from injury in time for Game 1 as Stamkos finished the regular season on injured reserve and Kucherov spent the entire 2020-21 season on long term injured reserve recovering from hip surgery.
Or salary cap circumvention, if that’s your thing.
Early in the action, Kucherov and MacKenzie Weegar tangled with one another, resulting in roughing minors for each player at 3:15 of the first period and a pair of minutes at 4-on-4.
Almost midway into the opening frame, Alex Killorn caught Jonathan Huberdeau with a slash and presented the Panthers with the night’s first power play at 7:18.
Florida thought they grabbed the game’s first lead when Sam Bennett poked the puck through Vasilevskiy from the doorstep, but the on ice officials immediately ruled Bennett’s actions as incidental goaltender interference– therefore negating the goal that the Panthers thought they had scored.
Less than a minute later, Blake Coleman (1) went on a shorthanded breakaway and slipped a backhand shot past Bobrovsky to give the Lightning a, 1-0, lead at 7:42 of the first period.
Yanni Gourde (1) and Ryan McDonagh (1) had the assists on Coleman’s shorthanded goal.
Less than a couple of minutes later, McDonagh cut a rut to the penalty box for boarding after the Bolts defender hit Panthers forward, Anthony Duclair, from behind at 9:04.
This time Florida made sure to capitalize on the ensuing skater advantage as Aleksander Barkov won a faceoff back to the point whereby Keith Yandle slid a pass to Huberdeau before Huberdeau then setup Barkov (1) with a pass through the slot for a one-timer goal.
Huberdeau (1) and Yandle (1) had the assists on Barkov’s power-play goal and the Panthers tied things up, 1-1, at 9:41.
Late in the period, Barkov and Jan Rutta got into a shoving match and received roughing minors at 14:09, yielding two minutes worth of 4-on-4 action.
Shortly after both squads received their skater back and resumed 5-on-5 action, the Panthers pulled ahead, 2-1, thanks to a one-timer from the point by former Bolt turned current Florida forward, Carter Verhaeghe (1).
Barkov (1) and Yandle (2) had the assists on Verhaeghe’s goal as the lead changed for the first time of the night at 16:31 of the first period.
In the aftermath of the goal celebration, Coleman slashed Frank Vatrano– who received a minor penalty of his own for embellishment.
There was more 4-on-4 action, as a result, to finish off the opening frame.
Entering the first intermission, the Panthers led, 2-1, on the scoreboard and dominated in shots on goal, 18-10.
Florida also held the advantage in blocked shots (7-4), giveaways (3-2) and hits (26-11), while both teams managed to have three takeaways each and were, 50-50, in faceoff win percentage after one period.
The Panthers were 1/2 on the power play, while the Lightning had yet to see any action on the skater advantage heading into the middle frame.
Bennett was penalized for holding at 4:27 of the second period, presenting Tampa with their first power play of the night in the process.
It didn’t take the Bolts long to bring the thunder on the power play as Kucherov (1) rocketed a one-timer from inside the faceoff dot to the left of Bobrovsky over his glove.
Victor Hedman (1) and Stamkos (1) had the assists on Kucherov’s 37th career Stanley Cup Playoff goal while the Lightning tied the game, 2-2 at 4:58 of the second period.
Kucherov’s power-play goal would not be the last time that the Bolts struck on the skater advantage.
About midway through the middle frame, Ondrej Palat caught Patric Hornqvist without the puck and was sent to the box for interference at 7:51.
Florida’s resulting skater advantage was cut short when Brandon Montour slashed Killorn at 9:33.
The Panthers managed to kill off Montour’s minor without incident, but found themselves shorthanded yet again when Markus Nutivaara tripped Anthony Cirelli at 12:56.
This time, in the dying seconds of the ensuing power play, Kucherov (2) sent another one of his patented one-timers past Bobrovsky’s glove side to put the Lightning back on top, 3-2, with a power-play goal.
Hedman (2) and Stamkos (2) once again had the assists on Kucherov’s goal at 14:51.
Moments later, as the clock was winding down with about 90 seconds left in the period, Ryan Lomberg and Coleman started going at it after a stoppage in play, yielding roughing minors for each player at 18:30.
Through 40 minutes of action at BB&T Center, the Lightning led the Panthers, 3-2, on the scoreboard, despite Florida outshooting Tampa, 29-26, in total shots on goal.
The Bolts actually held the advantage in shots in the second period alone, however, as Tampa outshot Florida, 16-11, in the middle frame.
Florida dominated in just about everything else, though, heading into the second intermission ahead of the Lightning in blocked shots (15-9), takeaways (5-4), giveaways (7-5), hits (41-23) and faceoff win% (54-46).
The Panthers were 1/3 and the Lightning were 2/3 on the power play heading into the final frame.
Huberdeau (1) tallied his first goal of the postseason off of a turnover– turned breakaway– before beating Vasilevskiy with a shot through the Lightning netminder’s five-hole.
Bennett (1) and Owen Tippett (1) tallied the assists as the Panthers tied the game, 3-3, at 1:27 of the third period on Huberdeau’s goal.
Florida capitalized on the surge in momentum less than a few minutes later as Tippett (1) one-timed a shot past the Tampa goaltender to give the Panthers a, 4-3, lead at 4:09.
Huberdeau (2) and Bennett (2) had the assists on Tippett’s first career Stanley Cup Playoff goal.
About a minute later, Cirelli and Mason Marchment got in a scrum and yielded roughing infractions leading to more 4-on-4 action at 5:39.
Midway through the third, Bennett was penalized for charging and presented Tampa with a power play at 12:19.
The Bolts capitalized on the ensuing advantage as Point (1) chipped a slap pass on the far side of the mostly vacant net as Bobrovsky was out of position– tying the game, 4-4, in the process.
Kucherov (1) and Hedman (3) had the assists on Point’s power-play goal at 13:00 of the third period.
Almost six minutes later, McDonagh fed Point a lead pass– sending Point into the attacking zone on a breakaway whereby Point (2) slipped the rubber biscuit through Bobrovsky’s five-hole to give the Lightning a, 5-4, lead at 18:46.
McDonagh (2) had the only assist on what became the game-winning goal as the Panthers had no answer for Tampa, despite pulling Bobrovsky for an extra attacker with about 33.5 seconds left in the action.
At the final horn, the Lightning had won, 5-4, and stolen Game 1 on the road.
The Bolts finished the night ahead in shots on goal, 40-39, including a, 14-10, advantage in the third period alone.
Meanwhile, Florida wrapped up Sunday night’s game leading in blocked shots (17-16) and hits (54-36). Tampa led Game 1 in giveaways (12-9) and faceoff win% (52-48).
The Panthers finished 1/3 and the Lightning went an impressive 3/4 on the power play in Game 1.
Tampa takes a 1-0 series lead heading into Game 2 on Tuesday night at BB&T Center.
Puck drop is scheduled for a little after 8 p.m. ET and fans in the United States can catch national coverage on CNBC, while those in Canada can watch the next part of the Battle of Florida on SNE or TVAS.
Down the Frozen River 
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