The Florida Panthers have taken a commanding 2-0 series lead in their first-round Stanley Cup playoffs series against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Now, they’re on home ice for the next two games with an opportunity to sweep their in-state rival.
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Game 3 begins at 1 p.m. Saturday at Sunrise’s Amerant Bank Arena. It will be broadcast nationally on TBS and truTV and locally on Scripps Sports, with streaming options available on Max (national broadcast) and Panthers+ (local broadcast).
Follow along throughout the game for live updates, news, analysis and commentary.
Lightning extend their lead
Jake Guentzel scored with the game at four-on-four 21 seconds into the third period to put the Lightning up 3-1.
It was Guentzel’s second goal of the game and his third of the series.
Tampa leads after two
The Lightning will hold its 2-1 lead going into the second intermission.
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However, another fracas broke out at the end of the frame, and the Lightning’s Anthony Cirelli was sent to the penalty box for roughing.
With that, the game will have 24 seconds of 4-on-4 to begin the third period followed by a Panthers power play for 1:36.
And there’s the chippiness
The Panthers had a slew of chances late in the second period but got none of them past Andrei Vasilevskiy.
After that, madness broke out behind the Lightning net, with Matthew Tkachuk in the center of all of it.
Tampa Bay got a power play out of it, with Tkachuk and Evan Rodrigues to the box for roughing for Florida and Conor Geekie to the box to Tampa for unsportsmanlike conduct.
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1:36 left in the second period.
Lightning take the lead
For the first time all series, the Tampa Bay Lightning has a lead. Nick Paul beat Sergei Bobrovsky five-hole to put the Lightning up 2-1 with 6:43 left in the second period.
The Tampa Bay go-ahead goal came shortly after Florida had killed its second penalty of the game.
All even after one period
The Panthers and Lightning remain tied 1-1 after the first period. Florida has a 12-5 edge in shots on goal and will have 44 seconds left on a power play to begin the second.
Florida’s power play units are the same as the first two games of the series.
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The top unit: Aleksander Barkov, Sam Reinhart, Matthew Tkachuk, Mackie Samoskevich and Seth Jones
The second unit: Sam Bennett, Brad Marchand, Carter Verhaeghe, Evan Rodrigues and Nate Schmidt
And it’s tied
Tampa Bay ties it up, with Jake Guentzel scoring from up close. Guentzel has scored two of Tampa Bay’s three goals so far this series.
It’s a 1-1 game with 2:45 left in the first.
Penalty kill keeps killing penalties
The Panthers’ penalty kill update this series: 8 for 9. They killed off a Brad Marchand cross-checking penalty midway through the first.
With Marchand in the box, Jesper Boqvist was with Anton Lundell as Florida’s third PK forward pair (Nico Sturm-Eetu Luostarinen and Aleksander Barkov-Sam Reinhart the others)
Panthers strike first
That Matthew Tkachuk guy keeps doing Matthew Tkachuk things, putting the Panthers on the board 2:43 into regulation.
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He got control of the puck in front of the net after linemate Sam Bennett whiffed on his shot attempt moments earlier and then poked the puck past Andrei Vasilevskiy.
1-0 Florida, with 17:17 left in the first period.
Tkachuk now has 50 playoff points dating back to the start of the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs. 20 goals, 30 assists.
Barkov is in
Florida Panthers captain and top-line center Aleksander Barkov will play in Game 3 of their first-round Stanley Cup playoffs series against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday after missing the end of Game 2 following a late hit away from the puck by Lightning forward Brandon Hagel.
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Barkov was in his customary spot on the Panthers’ top line with Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart on his wings during warmups ahead of the game at Amerant Bank Arena.
Nothing definitive on Barkov yet
Panthers captain and top-line center Aleksander Barkov’s status for Game 3 won’t be determined until after he goes through warmups, coach Paul Maurice said Saturday.
Barkov missed the final 10-plus minutes in Game 2 on Thursday after taking a late hit away from the puck by Lightning forward Brandon Hagel, who was suspended one game for the play.
More to come.
Series schedule
▪ Game 1 — Panthers 6, Lightning 2: Matthew Tkachuk scored twice in his first game with the team since early February and the Panthers suffocated the Lightning to win the series-opener.
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▪ Game 2 — Panthers 2, Lightning 0: Sergei Bobrovsky logged a 19-save shutout — the fourth playoff shutout of his career — and Florida got goals from Nate Schmidt and Sam Bennett to secure the win.
▪ Game 3: Saturday, April 26, 1 p.m., TBS, truTV, Max, Sunrise’s Amerant Bank Arena
▪ Game 4: Monday, April 28, 7 p.m., ESPN, ESPN+, Scripps Sports, Panthers+, Sunrise’s Amerant Bank Arena
▪ Game 5 (if necessary): Wednesday, April 30, time and TV TBD, Tampa’s Amalie Arena
▪ Game 6 (if necessary): Friday, May 2, time and TV TBD, Sunrise’s Amerant Bank Arena
▪ Game 7 (if necessary): Sunday, May 4, time and TV TBD, Tampa’s Amalie Arena
Pregame reading
Need to catch up ahead of Game 2? Here are the highlights of the Miami Herald’s coverage — plus a look at Panthers coverage elsewhere — over the past few days.
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â–ª Panthers set to receive another lineup boost as Aaron Ekblad returns from suspension
▪ Five key stats from the Florida Panthers’ Game 2 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning
â–ª George Richards at Florida Hockey Now took a look at how the Panthers have done a particularly good job of eliminating Lightning star Nikita Kucherov from the scoresheet in the playoffs.