The Florida Panthers got two goals from Matthew Tkachuk and defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3 on Thursday (April 25) to take a commanding 3-0 lead in their playoff series.
The Panthers jumped out early in the game, getting a goal from Tkachuk. This was a good omen for the Panthers, as they owned a .792 win percentage in road games where they opened the scoring in 2023-24, which trailed only the Winnipeg Jets (.933) and St. Louis Blues (.842) for the highest among all teams.
With that goal, Tkachuk became one of 12 U.S.-born players in NHL history with 20 career playoff goals in 50 or fewer contests, a list that includes his father, Keith (48 GP), and four active players: Jake Guentzel (32 GP), Auston Matthews (43 GP), Patrick Kane (43 GP) and Tyler Johnson (44 GP).
In the second period, the Lightning answered back with goals from Steven Stamkos and Tyler Motte. The Motte goal, which gave the Lightning the lead, represented the first time in the series that they had a lead in a game. Stamkos became the ninth player in Stanley Cup Playoffs history, age 34 or older, to score in each of his team’s first three games of a postseason and the first since Patrick Marleau in 2014 with the San Jose Sharks (3 GP).
The Lightning did not enjoy that lead for long, as Sam Reinhardt scored halfway through the second period to tie the game.
A Brandon Montour goal gave the Panthers a 3-2 lead heading into the second intermission. It was his ninth career playoff goal, the most by a Florida defenseman, and he registered his sixth career multi-point playoff game with the Panthers. Only Carter Verhaeghe (10), Aleksander Barkov (10), and Tkachuk (8) have more with the franchise.
The third period saw the Panthers expand their lead with a Steven Lorenz goal midway through the period. He had multiple points in Game 3 after having just three points in 38 games with the Panthers during the regular season (1 goals, 2 assists, 3 points).
The Lightning cut the lead to one when Nick Paul took a Matt Duclair pass and slammed it past Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.
Tkachuk got an empty net goal to make the final score 5-3.
Game Notes
Nikita Kucherov collected an assist for his 147th point of 2023-24 and passed Leon Draisaitl (65-81—146 in 2022-23) for the third most in a season by an active player (regular season and playoffs combined). The only others with more were Connor McDavid (173 in 2022-23 & 156 in 2021-22) and Evgeni Malkin (149 in 2008-09).
With second-line center Sam Bennett expected to miss “at least a week” with an upper-body injury he suffered in the second period of Game 2, the Panthers will turn to Anton Lundell to take his spot in between Tkachuk and Verhaeghe in Game 3.
The Panthers continued their strong play on the road. They finished tied for first in the NHL with a franchise-record 26 road wins in 2023-24. They also ranked first in goals allowed (2.27), fifth in goals scored (3.37), and first on the penalty kill (86.9%) on the road.
The two teams will meet in Game 4 on Saturday, April 27, when the Panthers will have a chance to sweep the series.
More must-reads: