The defending Stanley Cup champions are on their way to the Second Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs after shutting out the Florida Panthers, 4-0, on home ice at Amalie Arena on Wednesday.
That’s right, the Tampa Bay Lightning have emerged victorious in the “Battle of Florida” in six games (4-2) in what was Andrei Vasilevskiy’s first shutout the postseason, as well as the second of his career.
Vasilevskiy (4-2, 2.64 goals-against average, .929 save percentage in six games) turned aside all 29 shots that he faced in the shutout win for the Lightning.
Spencer Knight (1-1, 2.07 goals-against average, .933 save percentage in two games played) made 20 saves on 23 shots against in the loss for the Panthers.
Knight made his second straight start in net because, well, have you seen the other options Florida has in the crease?
Meanwhile, Barclay Goodrow returned to the lineup for Tampa– making his series debut in the process, while Luke Schenn was scratched.
Tyler Johnson raced to the puck to beat a looming icing call before sending a quick pass to the low slot where Pat Maroon (1) tapped the rubber biscuit behind Knight to make it, 1-0, Lightning at 6:16 of the first period.
Johnson (1) and Mikhail Sergachev (2) tallied the assists on Tampa’s first goal of the night– which, just like in Game 5, also happened to be on the first shot of the night for the Bolts.
Late in the period, Panthers defender, Brandon Montour hooked Brayden Point and presented the Lightning with a power play at 18:55 that would spill over into the middle frame.
After one period of action at Amalie Arena, Tampa led, 1-0, on the scoreboard– much to the pleasure of the home crowd– while both teams had eight shots on goal apiece.
Florida led in takeaways (2-0) and faceoff win percentage (69-31), while the Bolts led in giveaways (3-2) and hits (15-13) entering the first intermission.
Only the Lightning had seen any time on the power play and they were 0/1 heading into the middle frame.
Ryan McDonagh caught Aleksander Barkov with a high stick at 1:53 of the second period and presented Florida with a skater advantage as a result.
The Panthers couldn’t muster anything on the ensuing power play, however.
Midway through the middle frame, Sam Bennett was assessed a roughing infraction at 12:53.
This time, the Lightning made sure to capitalize on the resulting skater advantage as Steven Stamkos (3) sent a one-timer over Knight’s blocker after Nikita Kucherov worked a pass to Victor Hedman for the one touch pass to Stamkos for the power-play goal.
Hedman (8) and Kucherov (7) notched the assists as Tampa extended their lead to, 2-0, at 13:27 of the second period.
Less than a couple of minutes later, Sergachev cut a rut to the sin bin for cross checking Patric Hornqvist at 15:05. Florida did not score on the resulting power play.
Through 40 minutes of action, the Lightning led, 2-0, on the scoreboard, despite trailing the Panthers in shots on goal, 19-15.
Florida held the advantage in shots on net in the second period alone, 11-7, and led in blocked shots (8-7) as well as faceoff win% (61-39). Meanwhile, Tampa held the lead in takeaways (5-3) and hits (25-21) as both teams managed to have four giveaways each entering the second intermission.
The Panthers were 0/2 and the Lightning were 1/2 on the power play heading into the final frame.
Late in the third period, Point (4) was patient with the puck as he crept into the slot whereby his patience paid off with a deke and a goal as Knight overcommitted and the Lightning took a, 3-0, lead as a result.
Kucherov (8) and Erik Cernak (3) had the assists on Point’s goal at 14:36.
With nothing left to lose, Panthers head coach, Joel Quenneville, pulled his netminder for an extra attacker with about four minutes left in the game.
Nevertheless, Tampa wired a shot into the back of the empty net as Alex Killorn (4) redirected a pass from Cernak for the extra insurance marker.
Cernak (4) and Stamkos (5) each recorded their second points of the night with the primary and secondary assists, respectively, as the Bolts grabbed a, 4-0, lead at 18:18 of the third period.
About a minute later, Frank Vatrano took out his frustration on Cernak with a slash at 19:35, presenting the Lightning with one more power play for the evening, though it would go by the wayside as the final horn sounded 25 seconds later.
Tampa sealed the deal on a, 4-0, shutout victory to win the series 4-2– eliminating the Panthers in the process, despite finishing the night trailing in shots on goal, 29-24.
Florida held the advantage in shots on in the third period alone (10-9) as well as faceoff win% (53-47), while the Lightning finished Wednesday night’s action leading in blocked shots (13-12) and hits (32-27).
Both teams managed to have five giveaways each, while the Panthers finished 0/2 on the skater advantage and the Bolts went 1/3 on the power play in Game 6.
With the series wrapped up in six games (4-2) for the Lightning on Wednesday, Tampa awaits the winner of the Carolina Hurricanes and Nashville Predators series as their opponent in the Second Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Hurricanes lead their series with the Predators 3-2 and can wrap things up on the road in Nashville on Thursday.
Down the Frozen River 
Leave a comment