Lightning Take Panthers In Game 1

     The Florida Panthers opened up the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 5-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1 at BB&T Center on Sunday night. It is the seventh postseason appearance for the Panthers franchise in their 27-season history. It was only the fourth Stanley Cup Playoff game in National Hockey League history that had four lead changes. 

     Tampa Bay started the scoring at the 7:42 mark of the first period with a shorthanded goal. Ryan McDonagh banked the puck out of his defensive zone to center ice. Yanni Gourde got to the Panthers blue line and passed it to the middle. Blake Coleman skated with it to the low slot and backhanded a shot past Sergei Bobrovsky. 

     Florida was able to even it at 1-1 at 9:41 as Aleksander Barkov picked up a power-play goal. Keith Yandle placed the puck from the left point to Jonathan Huberdeau on the left wing. He sent it across the ice and Barkov rifled a one-time slap shot from the top fo the right circle by Andrei Vasilevskiy. 

     The Cats took their first lead 2-1 with 3:29 remaining when Carter Verhaeghe scored against his former team. Verhaeghe made a cross-ice pass from the right point to Barkov on the left wing. He returned it back from the left circle and Verhaeghe blasted a one-time slap shot from the high slot. Barkov and Yandle compiled their second assists of the contest. 

     In the second period, the Lightning tied the contest 2-2 with the man advantage at 4:58. Steven Stamkos put the puck back from the left circle to Victor Hedman in the high slot. He angled a pass to his right and Nikita Kucherov scored on a snap shot from the low right circle. 

     The Bolts added another power-play goal with 5:09 left in the second and led 3-2. Brandon Montour coughed up the puck in the left corner. Hedman connected a cross-ice pass from the low left circle and Kucherov put in a snap shot from the low left circle. 

     The early part of the third period was taken over by Florida. Sam Bennett advanced the puck with a pass ahead from the Panthers blue line. Huberdeau went in on a breakaway and slipped in a soft forehand shot from the low slot at 1:27 to tie it 3-3. 

     The Panthers reclaimed the lead at the 4:09 mark of the third period to make it 4-3. Bennett tipped a pass ahead to Huberdeau on the left side. He brought it to the crease area, made a spinning pass and Owen Tippett released a shot from the left of the crease. 

     Tampa Bay bounced back and evened the game 4-4 with 7:00 to go in the third on their third power-play goal. Hedman stopped a clearing pass at the top of the zone and passed to Kucherov above the right circle. He made a slap pass to the low slot and Brayden Point one-timed a shot into a half-empty net. 

     The Lightning finished off the comeback with 1:14 left in the final frame to take a 5-4 lead. McDonaugh made a long lead pass from his own high slot area up the middle of the ice. Point carried the puck on a breakaway from the Panthers blue line into the low slot area and scored on a backhand shot.