Both teams played their first regular season games since the NHL All-Star Game break. The Panthers last participated in a contest as they hosted the Boston Bruins on January 28.
Panthers head coach Paul Maurice picked up his 800th NHL victory behind the bench. He is the sixth head coach in National Hockey League history to reach that mark.
Florida(25-22-6) jumped out to a 1-0 lead at the 8:04 mark of the first period. Matthew Tkachuk, who is coming off the 2023 NHL All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award on Saturday, made a cross-ice pass from the low left circle and Carter Verhaeghe snapped a shot from the low right circle past Andrei Vasilevskiy for his 27th goal of the season. It turned out to be the 41st assist for Tkachuk in a Panthers uniform.
In the second period, the Cats expanded their lead to 2-0 with the man advantage at 1:42. Aaron Ekblad passed the puck from the right point to Tkachuk behind the Lightning cage. He centered it and Sam Bennett put in a wrist shot from the low slot for his 13th goal of the campaign.
Tampa Bay(32-16-1) closed it to 2-1 at 3:02 of the second. Mikhail Sergachev angled a pass back from the left wing and Nikita Kucherov rifled a snap shot by Sergei Bobrovsky for his 20th goal this season. It was the eighth consecutive season that Kucherov has reached the 20-goal mark. Brayden Point was credited with a secondary assist on the play.
The Panthers increased it 3-1 at 8:40 of the frame. Bennett made a pass to the middle of the ice. Verhaeghe released a forehand shot from the slot area and Tkachuk batted it in from the right of the crease for his 26th goal of the campaign.
Florida had a 4-1 lead with 2:04 remaining in the second. Brandon Montour blasted a slap shot from the right point and it was redirected by Eetu Luostarinen for his 11th tally this year. Verghaeghe chalked up his third assist in the contest.
The Cats blow the game open 5-1 at the 2:53 mark of the third period. Vasilevskiy tried to clear the puck from his own left corner around the end wall. It was stopped by Eric Staal behind the net and he stuffed it into a wide-open net for his eighth goal of the year.
It became 6-1 for the Panthers at 5:26 of the third. Tkachuk caught a clearing pass at the Lightning blue line and carried it into the high slot. He made a diagonal pass and Verhaeghe powered in a one-time slap shot from the low right circle for his second tally of the game and 28th goal of the season.
Florida made it 7-1 on the power play with 5:37 left in the third period. Bennett took a shot from long range and it was deflected in by Tkachuk from the left of the crease for his fifth point and second goal of the contest. Tkachuk had a five-point game for the third time in his NHL career.
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