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The two rivals kept things relatively peaceful (only 30 penalty minutes!) as the Lightning took down the Panthers.
Emil Lilleberg. Jack Finley. Zemgus Girgensons. Not exactly where anyone expected the Tampa Bay Lightning’s offense to come from in their 3-1 win over the Florida Panthers, but with several regulars sidelined with injuries, it was the depth players that stepped up. FInley’s breakaway goal in the third period proved to be the game-winner as Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 22-of-23 shots to pick up the win.
It was a pretty tame start for the two teams, even if Coach Cooper had Scott Sabourin on the ice for the opening face-off. There were a few extra whacks after whistles, but both teams seemed focused on the hockey, not the spectacle. It led to a tight-checking game where both teams had brief windows of open ice to skate through, but time and space condensed once they entered the offensive zone.
In the past, the Lightning struggled with Florida’s forecheck, but for the opening 20 minutes the Bolts were decisive with the puck in their own zone and moved the puck quickly to ease the pressure. There were a handful of attempts from the Panthers, but the Lightning defense allowed them just 10 shot attempts.
Tampa Bay’s offense was equally stymied until Sam Bennett’s elbow somehow found the jaw of Nikita Kucherov which led to a Lightning power play. They didn’t score, but the bulk of the two minutes was in the Florida zone and the Lightning had several good attempts. A shot from Kucherov off of a face-off rattled Sergei Bobrovskiy’s mask a bit, and the veteran goaltender had to be quick from post to post to deny a seemingly easy tap-in for Jake Guentzel.
The power play didn’t score but it seemed to spark the Bolts a bit and they carried the play after the opportunity. It wouldn’t be much longer until they recorded the first goal. A face-off win by Brayden Point and a nice set up pass by Kucherov gave Emil Lilleberg space to put a shot just under the bar for his second goal of the season.
Emil Lilleberg [2] (Nikita Kucherov) 1-0 Lightning
"SCORREEE!!! LILLEBERG!!!" A Lilly snipe 🎯 to start off the weekend right! #TBLvsFLA 🎧: boltsaud.io/live 📻: 102.5 The Bone
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Big Jack Finley almost made it 2-0 shortly after as he was wide open in the slot, but Bobrovsky was able to close the gap between his arm and body in time to keep the puck out. Finley, Curtis Douglas, and Sabourin had a combined 8 shot attempts in the period as they helped to tilt the ice in the Lightning’s direction.
If the first period was defined by the Lightning building their offensive game off of a good power play, than the second period’s narrative was set by their inability to stay out of the box. Short-handed three times in the period (along with a 4-on-4 period) Tampa Bay struggled to get much going offensively.
They looked solid in killing off Charle-Edouard D’Astous’ cross-checking penalty three minutes into the period, but when Zemgus Girgensons left his feet to deliver a hit on Mackie Samoskevich he had to to watch from the penalty box as Brad Marchand scored off of a face-off win.
Brad Marchand [12] (Sam Reinhhart, Anton Lundell) Power Play, 1-1
Power play goal for Florida! Scored by Brad Marchand with 08:29 remaining in the 2nd period. Assisted by Sam Reinhart and Anton Lundell. Florida: 1 Tampa Bay: 1 #TBLvsFLA #TimeToHunt #GoBolts
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It’s not a figment of imagination that Marchand has been a thorn in the Lightning’s side his entire career. That is his 48th career point (21st goal) in 52 games against the Bolts. Moser tried his best to get his stick in the way, but Marchand timed his shot perfectly.
Brayden Point had a good look off of a rush, but his backhand was chipped wide of the post, and he was unable to get a shot off when the puck found its way back to him in the slot. Another penalty, this one a somewhat dubious roughing call on Lilleberg, didn’t lead to any damage on the scoreboard, but kept the Lightning in their own zone for the better part of two minutes.
They did regain their footing over the last three minutes with Darren Raddysh’s shot from the slot standing out as a prime chance.
An early second-period power play fizzled for the Lightning, as did the two that followed in the period. Unlike their first opportunity way back in the first period, the weren’t able to generate chances or even establish a presence in the Panthers’ zone.
Still, they battled through it. Florida may not be at full strength, but they weren’t going to acquiesce to their upstate rivals. They controlled the 5v5 play for the period, limiting the Lightning to just two shot attempts and one shot on goal. To Tampa Bay’s credit, they made the most out of that one shot.
Big Jack Finley, who was denied on a breakaway earlier in the game when he tried to go to his forehand, changed things up and slid a backhand puck past Bobrovsky for his first NHL goal. Not a bad way to get on the board.
Jack Finley [1] (Curtis Douglas, Scott Sabourin) 2-1 Lightning
"JACK FINLEY!!!!! HIS FIRST NHL GOAL!!!!!" 🚨 This time Finley cashes in on the breakaway, what a moment! #TBLvsFLA 🎧: boltsaud.io/live 📻: 102.5 The Bone
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That line was extremely effective on the night as the team had a 12-4 edge in shot attempts and an 8-1 edge in scoring chances when Finley, Scott Sabourin, and Curtis Douglas were on the ice. They did have to sit and watch for four stressful minutes after Erik Cernak’s stick caught Evan Rodrigues in the mouth. The Lightning killed off the double-minor. Despite allowing the Marchand power-play goal, it was a really good night for the penalty killers as Florida came in with a success rate over 30% on the power play on home ice.
Paul Maurice was aggressive with the empty-net, as he pulled Bobrovsky with just under three minutes to go in the game. It was a good move as the Bolts were under siege for 90 seconds, but kept the danger aside. After a time-out, they were able to get the puck down the ice and Yanni Gourde fed Zemgus Girgensons for an empty net goal.
Zemgus Girgensons [4] (Yanni Gourde) Empty Net, 3-1 Lightning
"SCORREEE!!! GIRGENSONS! BULLSEYE!" Big Z with the big empty netter! #TBLvsFLA 🎧: boltsaud.io/live 📻: 102.5 The Bone
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It wasn’t a work of art, but it got the job done. Players that needed to step up did. They did a good job of limiting their mistakes and not retaliating to Florida’s style of play. It was also the less-than-pretty details that they attended to – killing penalties when it mattered, blocking shots, getting pucks out of the zone – it was a team effort that earned the two points.
After a quick ride home they’ll have to do it all over again against Vancouver tomorrow.
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