The Florida Panthers gave the Tampa Bay Lightning everything they had Thursday night.
It was not enough.
Not even close.
The Panthers, playing without two more of their big players not including Brad Marchand, could not get anything past the red-hot Andrei Vasilevskiy until the game was well decided in a 6-1 loss.
This was a blowout game that will be remembered, again, for the fun the Panthers and Lightning always seem to have when they play each other.
Even Paul Maurice got in on the action, getting tossed in the third period after things got a testy with Matthew Tkachuk, Gus Forsling and others getting into scraps.
Tkachuk and Forsling were among the list of Panthers who got game misconducts with about 15 minutes left.
Maurice, for one, had seen enough.
He was somewhere in the building watching when the Lightning made it 5-0 on a goal by Pontus Holmberg after Daniil Tarasov appeared to injure his groin when he got hit by a teammate against the cage.
Tarasov could not get off the ice allowing Holmberg to punch in a loose puck from the doorstep.
Sergei Bobrovsky came in after Tarasov was helped off the ice.
Mackie Samoskevich got his sixth of the season a little over 3 minutes later.
Florida goes into its nearly three-week break for the Olympics with losses in five of six.
The Panthers have 25 games left to try and get into the playoffs.
Tampa Bay, meanwhile, is safe and secure like a Lightning bug snug in a rug.
The Lightning sit atop the Eastern Conference standings and go into the break a phenomenal 19-1-1 in its past 21 games.
Tuesday, the Panthers outshot Tampa Bay in each of the first two periods yet trailed 4-0 after 40.
After the second period, Florida had a 48-29 advantage in shot attempts, yet nothing got past Vasilevskiy.
NOTES: PANTHERS at LIGHTNING
Mikulas Hovorka made his NHL debut after the Panthers called him up from AHL Charlotte.
The Panthers played Thursday without Marchand, Aaron Ekblad, and Evan Rodrigues.
HOW THEY SCORED
Lightning 1, Panthers 0 (2:08 1st): A shot from Victor Hedman is deflected in the slot by Brandon Hagel and he puts the puck between his skates and through.
Lightning 2, Panthers 0 (14:08 1st): Zemgus Girgensons gets to a loose puck that beats Daniil Tarasov five hole.
Lightning 3, Panthers 0 (1:14 2nd PP): The Panthers fail to clear the puck and Jake Guenzel jumps on a rebound.
Lightning 4, Panthers 0 (17:50 2nd): Erik Cernak walks through the Florida defense, wraps around the net and banks one off the shoulder of Tarasov and through.
Lightning 5, Panthers 0 (6:09 3rd PP): Pontus Holmberg jams a puck past an injured Tarasov.
Lightning 5, Panthers 1 (9:50 3rd PP): Mackie Samoskevich rips one from the right circle that goes off the cage and bounces off the shoulder of Andrei Vasilevskiy and in.
Lightning 6, Panthers 1 (15:41 3rd): Oliver Bjorkstrand picks his corner against Sergei Bobrovsky.
FHN’S 3 STARS
1. Andrei Vasilevskiy, Lightning
2. Brandom Hagel, Lightning
3. Jake Guentzel, Lightning
ON DECK: NHL WINTER OLYMPIC BREAK
NEXT GAME — No. 58
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS at FLORIDA PANTHERS
