The Florida Panthers took the lead in the second period after giving up a goal on the first shot of the night and never looked back as they defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-1, on home ice at BB&T Center on Monday in Game 5 of their 2021 First Round series.
Tampa leads the series 3-2 as Florida looks to hold off elimination in Game 6 on the road on Wednesday and force a Game 7 back on home ice Friday night as the Panthers continue their quest for their first playoff series victory since 1996.
Panthers goaltender, Spencer Knight (1-0, 1.02 goals-against average, .973 save percentage in one game played) made 36 saves on 37 shots in his postseason debut.
Andrei Vasilevskiy (3-2, 3.17 goals-against average, .919 save percentage in five games played) stopped 34 out of 37 shots against for the Lightning in the loss.
Knight (20 years, 35 days) made his Stanley Cup Playoff debut in the effort on Monday and became the youngest goaltender to make his postseason debut in an elimination game, beating the previous record holder, Daniel Berthiaume, by 41 days (20 years, 76 days, 1986 Smythe Division Semifinal, Game 3 with Winnipeg) in the process.
Less than a minute into the action, Ross Colton (2) kicked off the game’s scoring as he received a backhand pass from Blake Coleman prior to one-timing the puck past Knight to give the Bolts a, 1-0, lead.
Coleman (2) and Ryan McDonagh (4) tallied the assists as Tampa jumped out on the scoreboard first 53 seconds into the first period.
Two minutes later, Victor Hedman cut a rut to the penalty box for hooking Anthony Duclair at 2:53.
Florida did not convert on their first power play of the night, however.
Moments later, McDonagh was sent to the sin bin for roughing at 7:18, but the ensuing power play for the Panthers didn’t last long as Jonathan Huberdeau found his way to the box for hooking Mikhail Sergachev at 7:26.
After a little more than 80 seconds of 4-on-4 action, the Bolts had an abbreviated 5-on-4 advantage, but couldn’t muster anything on the power play.
Midway through the opening frame, Ondrej Palat received an interference infraction and presented the Panthers with yet another skater advantage at 10:36 that went untouched.
Finally, Mason Marchment boarded Colton at 15:09, yielding another power play to the Lightning, but nothing came of the advantage as time winded down in the first period.
Heading into the first intermission, the Lightning led, 1-0, on the scoreboard and were outshooting the Panthers, 22-15.
Tampa dominated in blocked shots (7-4), takeaways (2-1), hits (12-11) and faceoff win percentage (52-48), while Florida led in giveaways (6-3) after one period.
The Lightning were 0/2 and the Panthers were 0/3 on the power play heading into the middle frame.
MacKenzie Weegar (1) hit the back of the net off of a faceoff in the attacking zone with a shot from the point over Vasilevskiy’s glove as McDonagh screened his own goaltender.
Huberdeau (7) and Sam Bennett (4) notched the assists on Weegar’s goal as Florida tied the game, 1-1, at 6:19 of the second period.
About ten minutes later Marchment (2) one-timed a shot from the slot off of a pass from Aleksander Barkov from the trapezoid to give the Panthers their first lead of the night, 2-1, at 16:55 of the middle frame.
Barkov (5) and Weegar (2) had the assists on Marchment’s goal, which would go on to serve as the game-winner.
Luke Schenn received a holding infraction to wrap up the second period at 19:01, as the Panthers and Lightning headed back to their dressing rooms for the second intermission with Florida on a power play and leading, 2-1, on the scoreboard.
Tampa dominated in shots on goal, 31-26, despite trailing the Panthers, 11-9, in shots on net in the second period alone, however.
As Florida’s power play spilled over into the final frame, the Panthers were sure to take the full extent of their advantage as Barkov riffled a shot that Patric Hornqvist (2) inadvertently deflected past Vasilevskiy with his shoulder.
Barkov (6) and Huberdeau (8) tallied the assists as the Panthers extended their lead to two-goals, 3-1, 35 seconds into the third period with a power-play goal.
With nothing left to lose, Bolts head coach, Jon Cooper, pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker, but it was to no avail as Frank Vatrano (1) floated a shot from about the attacking zone blue line into the empty goal frame.
Hornqvist (3) had the only assist on Vatrano’s empty net goal as the Panthers led, 4-1, at 19:45.
Tampa didn’t go away quietly, however, as Pat Maroon and Coleman got into a bit of a heated exchange with Florida defender, Brandon Montour.
Maroon was assessed a cross checking minor for using his stick illegally against Noel Acciari in addition to a ten-minute misconduct at 19:49 of the third period.
Coleman, meanwhile received a roughing minor as Montour picked up a cross checking infraction at 19:49, as well.
At the final horn, Florida had won, 4-1, and finished the night leading in shots on goal, 38-37, including a, 12-6, advantage in the third period alone.
The Bolts wrapped up Monday night’s effort leading in blocked shots (16-10) and hits (49-40) while the Panthers finished Game 5 leading in giveaways (21-13) and faceoff win% (52-48).
Tampa went 0/2 and Florida went 1/5 on the power play on Monday.
With the win in Game 5, the Panthers held off elimination and forced a Game 6 on the road at Amalie Arena in Tampa on Wednesday. Puck drop is expected around 8 p.m. ET and viewers in the United States can tune into the action on CNBC for national coverage, while those in Canada can choose from SN360 or TVAS.
Down the Frozen River 
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