Alex Wennberg compiled a hat trick as the Florida Panthers toppled the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-1 at BB&T Center on Saturday night. It is the first of two games between both teams to end the regular season. The Panthers, who have won five straight games, jumped to second place in the Central Division.
Both clubs will meet in the best-of-seven first-round series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs next week. It is the first time that the Sunshine State rivals will face each other in the postseason since the Panthers joined the National Hockey League 28 years ago.
Florida(36-14-5) got out to 1-0 lead with 8:16 left in the first period. Gustav Forsling had the puck in the neutral zone and angled a pass to his right. Alex Wennberg carried it into the Lightning zone and blasted a slap shot from the top right circle for his 14th goal of the year. MacKenzie Weegar was credited with a secondary assist on the play while Forsling expanded his point streak to three games.
In the second period, the Panthers made it 2-0 on a power-play goal at the 3:07 mark. Jonathan Huberdeau fed a pass from above the left circle to Aleksander Barkov in the slot area. He moved it to Sam Bennett in the low left circle and he beat Andrei Vasilevskiy with a snap shot for his 10th of the season.
Tampa Bay(36-15-3) closed it to 2-1 at 4:52. Barclay Goodrow sent the puck from the left wing to Yanni Gourde on the end wall. He centered it and Luke Schenn scored on a wrist shot from the low slot by Sergei Bobrovsky. Goodrow and Gourde extended their point streak to three games each.
The Cats reclaimed a two-goal margin with 7:06 left in the second. Frank Vatrano cycled the puck from the left corner to behind the Lightning cage. Wennberg put a pass from the end wall that went off a defender, popped high in the air and landed inside the the Tampa Bay net for his second tally of the contest.
Florida increased their lead to 4-1 with 5:07 to go in the frame. Bennett sent a cross-ice pass from the left circle and Huberdeau flicked a soft backhand shot from the low slot for his 20th goal this season. Huberdeau reached the 20-goal for the fourth consecutive season and fifth time in his NHL career.
The Panthers made it 5-2 with 6:22 remaining in the third period. Wennberg released a snap shot from the high slot for his third goal of the game. It was the second career hat trick for Wennberg. He had three goals against the Columbus Blue Jackets on April 3.
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