Saturday, December 1, 2018

Panthers Covered By Lightning

     The Florida Panthers were taken down the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-4 in overtime at BB&T Center on Saturday night. The Cats played their fifth game of a season high eight-game home stand.
     Florida(10-10-5) scored a pair of goals in a matter of 11 seconds. Evgenii Dadonov made a lead pass in the neutral zone. Frank Vatrano came in on a 2-on-1 odd-man rush on the right side and put in a wrist shot from the right circle by Louis Domingue at 10:23.
     The Cats another goal at the 10:34 mark. Jonathan Huberdeau poked the puck away from a defender at the red line. Alekander Barkov raced through the left circle and placed in a backhand shot from the low slot.
     Tampa Bay(19-7-1) answered back quickly at 11:18 to make it 2-1. Alex Killorn got the goal on assists from Mikhail Sergashev and Braydon Coburn.
     The Panthers upped their margin to two goals at 2:11 of the second period. Huberdeau stole the puck from Coburn at the Florida blue line and sprinted out to a breakaway. He went through the slot and scored on a forehand shot. It was the 26th point for Huberdeau in 26 career games against the Bolts.
     Florida were able to score on a 5-on-3 power play with 11:56 remaining in the period for a 4-1 lead. After Ryan McDonagh blocked a shot in the right circle, Mike Hoffman sent the puck from the right wing to Keith Yandle at the top of the zone. He connected a pass to Dadonov at the right of the crease and he snapped in a shot from close range. Dadonov has now compiles 23 points in his last 22 games.
     The Bolts cut the deficit slightly with 7:00 left in the second. Dan Girardi sent a pass across the blue line to Nikita Kucherov on the left side. He made a quick cross-ice pass and Mathieu Jospeh scored on a one-time slapshot from the top right circle.
     The Lightning added a tally with the man advantage with 1:00 to go in the frame. Steven Stamkos backhanded the puck back from the left circle to Victor Hedman at the blue line. He passed to the right circle where Kucherov blasted a one-time slapshot past James Reimer.
     In the third period, Tampa Bay tied the contest with 8:19 left. Cedric Paquette took a shot from the top of the crease which was saved by Reimer. The rebound went off the front right skate of Dryden Hunt and into the Panthers cage.
     The Lightning finished erasing the three-goal gap with a power-play goal in overtime at 3:22. Tyler Johnson passed the puck diagonally to Kucherov at the bottom edge of the right circle. His cross-ice pass through the crease was banged in by Brayden Point from the left side of the blue paint for the winning goal.

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