SUNRISE — A great thing about NHL hockey is that you can always expect the unexpected. On Saturday night, the Panthers and Lightning played a defensive game that almost no one saw coming.
“We had a plan, and we executed it,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “It was not so much the offensive effort but the defensive effort that we knew would give us a chance to win the game. We were proved right.’’
The Lightning is a beat up team, missing a number of its top players.
So, too, are the Panthers.
Those expecting an extension of the 322 penalty minutes show from the final preseason game between these two bitter rivals did not see that transpire.
When the final whistle blew on Tampa Bay’s 3-1 win over the Panthers, only 30 penalty minutes were called.
That does not mean it was an exciting game with goals coming at a premium.
It was just one of those nights, a defensive showdown in which the Lightning headed home happy.
The Panthers were not so thrilled.
Understandably so.
“I thought we played pretty well,’’ Anton Lundell said. “There was not a lot out there. It felt like a playoff game. Both teams were defending pretty well. So, you just have to accept how the game goes, and you have to find a way. We had some chances today.’’
The Lightning led 1-0 going into the second period before Brad Marchand extended his scoring streak to 10 straight games after scoring on a nice power-play goal.
But that was it for the Panthers, Tampa Bay and its makeshift lineup keeping its rival off the board.
Both Andrei Vasilevskiy and Sergei Bobrovsky were terrific in the net.
Only the Panthers, a team that scored six two nights before against Washington, showed offensive struggles.
Tampa Bay, which lost 7-3 at home to the New York Rangers on Wednesday night, came into Saturday a bit desperate for a team that has now won eight of its past 10 games despite all of its injuries.
“I don’t think I’ve ever gotten two breakaways in my life,” said Jack Finley, who scored the game-winner early in the third after Bobrovsky stopped him earlier in the game. It was Finley’s first goal in seven NHL games.
“I had a breakaway earlier on Bobrovsky, and he came out. I told myself on the bench that if I got another one, I’m going to make a move on him. I actually did, so it was good.”
Finley did not come to Tampa with a reputation as a scorer.
“I don’t know that as a pro he’s ever led his team in scoring,” Cooper said. “He’s been more known for a guy that could get on the PK and win faceoffs. The checking type, but he’s got skill and when you get to this level everybody’s got skill. He’s starting to find his game and his role. They played it to a tee tonight. Good for him.”
If there was a bright spot for Florida, it was that they held Tampa Bay scoreless in four power plays with only four shots reaching Bobrovsky.
“It’s no different from your power play,” Paul Maurice said after the game. “It’s all confidence-based. We went through a run of having a tough stretch on our kill, and it’s been good for the last four or five games. Really aggressive…Some really good clears.”
The next test for the Panthers comes Monday against Vancouver.
The Lightning, for what it is worth, gets the first crack at the Canucks by playing host to Vancouver on Sunday evening.
Both Florida and Tampa Bay are out of the playoff picture as things stand right now, but that can change in a hurry.
These two teams have represented the Eastern Conference in the past six Stanley Cup Finals with four championships between them, so many expect both of to change course eventually.
“It was a good game, two real good teams playing one another,” Bobrovsky said. “I thought we worked hard, it was a tie game, but unfortunately, we didn’t get the points. … This is a rivalry we have, we have faced them a lot lately.”
ON DECK: GAME 19
VANCOUVER CANUCKS at FLORIDA PANTHERS
