The Florida Panthers began their Stanley Cup title defense with a 6-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals at Amalie Arena on Tuesday night. The Panthers lead the best-of-seven series 1-0. Matthew Tkachuk made his return to the Florida lineup after being out since early February.
Both teams are meeting each other in a playoff series for the fourth time in the last five seasons. The Panthers or the Lightning have reached the Stanley Cup Final in the previous five years.
Florida made it 1-0 at the 3:44 mark of the opening period when Sam Bennett batted the puck in. Tampa Bay evened it up 1-1 on the power play with 7:39 to go in the first when Jake Guentzel placed in a wrist shot. The Cats regained the lead 2-1 as Sam Reinhart redirected a shot from the low right circle with 44.7 seconds left in the period.
The Panthers would extend their lead to 5-1 during the second period. Nate Schmidt took a wrist shot from close range at 4:41. Tkachuk added two power-play goals at 4:55 and the 9:24 mark.
The Bolts closed it to 5-2 with 6:56 remaining in second. Brayden Point put in a snap shot from close range. It became 6-2 for the Cats at 5:09 of the third period when Schmidt scored on the power play for his second goal of the contest.
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