The Florida Panthers lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3 on Sunday at Amalie Arena. Both teams entered today with the two best records in the National Hockey League.
Florida(20-7-4) moved ahead 1-0 at 3:22 of the first period. Aleksander Barkov took the puck away from Ondrej Palat at the right points. He skated to the low right circle and centered it. Carter Verhaeghe shoveled the puck with a backhand shot from the low slot by Curtis McElhinney for his 12th goal this season. Verhaeghe got his third goal in the past five contests. Barkov has compiled a point in 11 of his last 13 games.
Tampa Bay(23-6-2) answered back quickly just 32 seconds late to even it up 1-1. Erik Cernak angled a pass back from the right wing and it was tipped ahead by Blake Coleman in the high slot. Barclay Goodnow softly put a backhand shot from the low slot which was saved by Sergei Bobrovsky, however Yanni Gourde snapped a shot from the left of the crease for his 11th goal of the season. Gourde increased his goal streak to three games while Goodrow had his second point in the last 13 contests.
It became 2-1 for the Bolts with 8:37 remaining in the second period. Cernak carried it down the right wing and around the Florida cage. He sent the puck toward the net from the left wing and Aaron Ekblad knocked it away. Alex Killorn fired a wrist shot from the low right circle for his ninth goal of the year. Killorn scored for the second time in the last three games and now has a three-game point streak.
The Cats had a goal disallowed with 5:03 to go due to being offside earlier in the play. Frank Vatrano finished it off with a one-handed forehand shot from the top of the crease.
The Panthers would to it 2-2- on a power-play goal with 1:36 left in the second. Alex Wennberg fed the puck from the right wing and Gustav Forling blasted a slap shot from the right corner for his second goal of the campaign.
In the third period, the Lightning regained the lead 3-2 at the 5:22 mark. Ross Colton came out from the right corner and took a forehand shot from the right of the crease which was saved. Mathieu Joseph hustled in and put in the rebound from the edge of the blue paint for his eighth goal this season.
The Panthers converted with the man advantage at 6:25 and tied it 3-3. Patric Hornqvist got his 12th goal this year on a deflection from the slot area following a slap shot by Keith Yandle from the right point. It was Hornqvist's 250th NHL goal and his first goal in the last five contests.
Tampa Bay picked up a power-play tally with 9:04 remaining. Anthony Cirelli made a drop pass at the top left circle, Gourde sent a diagonal pass to his right and Tyler Johnson tapped in a shot from the top of the crease for his seventh goal of the season. Brayden Point added an empty-net goal with 14.3 seconds left for a 5-3 lead.
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