Tampa Bay Lightning center Steven Stamkos, middle, celebrates with right winger Nikita Kucherov, left, and left winger Nicholas Paul, right, after scoring a goal against the Florida Panthers during the second period in Game 3 of the second round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amalie Arena. Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

Lightning go up 3-0 in series against Panthers after Game 3 win

By Adam Stites | Last updated 5/22/22

The Tampa Bay Lightning are a game away from sweeping the Florida Panthers after a 5-1 win in Game 3 on Sunday.

Corey Perry set the tone early with his fifth goal of the playoffs to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead.

Playoff Perry, everybody pic.twitter.com/R8uc8hMB5E
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) May 22, 2022

While the Panthers' Sam Reinhart tied the game later in the first period, it was the only time Florida managed to slip a puck past Andrei Vasilevskiy. The Lightning pulled away with goals from Erik Cernak and Steven Stamkos in the second period.

Passing perfection pic.twitter.com/jEX5vAqiIE
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) May 22, 2022

The final two goals for Tampa Bay from Nikita Kucherov and Stamkos came against an empty-net in the final minutes of the third period.

The Lightning are trying to win a third consecutive Stanley Cup and have held Florida to just one goal in each of the first three games of the series. The Panthers finished the regular season with an NHL-best 4.15 goals per game and the league's best record.

Game 4 in Tampa Bay is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. ET on Monday night.

More must-reads: