In another nasty, fight-filled game between these rivals, the Lightning were able to prevail thanks to 1) three timely goals in the opening 23 minutes of the game and 2) outstanding penalty killing.

The Lightning fell behind at 5:37 of the first when the Panthers benefited from two fortunate bounces around the Tampa Bay net. The puck twice caromed off Lightning players before ending up on the stick of Eetu Luostarinen in the slot. He swatted it in to open the scoring.

The Panthers had already received one power play chance in the game before the goal, and they went on their second PP at 12:49 with a chance to extend their lead. Instead, the Lightning tied the game sixteen seconds into the kill. Anthony Cirelli picked off a puck in the defensive zone and sprung Jake Guentzel on an in-alone chance. Guentzel was on the left side of the ice (his strong side), so he had a less advantageous angle to the net. But he roofed his shot over Sergei Bobrovsky’s glove at 13:05.

The Lightning thought they’d added a second shorthanded goal on the same kill. Cirelli’s breakaway chance was disrupted by Aaron Ekblad’s hold. The puck slid to Bobrovsky, who made an initial save. Cirelli also went to the net and knocked the puck in with his glove. Eventually, though, the Lightning did grab the lead. With time ticking down in the first period, Yanni Gourde entered the offensive zone and set up Pontus Holmberg at the right circle. Holmberg wired a shot past Bobrovsky’s glove at 19:52.

An odd-man rush goal extended the Lightning’s lead at 2:31 of the second. Gage Goncalves directed the puck to center ice, where Brayden Point knocked it down and attacked the offensive zone on a two-on-one with Nikita Kucherov. From the left circle, Point backhanded a pass to Kucherov at the bottom of the right circle, and Kucherov backhanded it through Bobrovsky’s pads.

Much of the final 37 minutes of the game were played on special teams. During that timeframe, the Panthers received nine power plays, and the Lightning had four. Florida converted on the first of those remaining nine chances. After a faceoff win to begin the advantage, the Panthers had all five of their players touch the puck—they moved it around quickly and set up Brad Marchand for a goal into an open side of the net at 7:05 of the second.

The Lightning had eight other kills to get through, all but one of them when they were protecting the one-goal lead. They did it, though, getting several key saves from Andrei Vasilevskiy along the way.

The Florida penalty kill also had a strong night, going 6-6 and holding the Lightning to just three total shots. But over the final 40 minutes, the Panthers’ successful kills kept them close, while the Lightning’s successful kills helped them maintain the lead.

It’s a quick turnaround for the Lightning, who host Montreal on Sunday at 5:00 PM.

Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game:

Andrei Vasilevskiy — Lightning. 24 saves.
Jake Guentzel — SHG.
Anthony Cirelli — Assist.