The Tampa Bay Chargers were blown up and blown up by the Florida Panthers in the first game of the Florida campaign. In the fourth series of the last five seasons, the Panthers have won the command path and gained a lead in the early series.
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Lightning lost Anthony Cirelli in this game, and even Erik Cernak made several turns, which would not help this huge loss.
Game review
The Panthers performed well in pre-review and immediately raised the question of lightning. Sam Bennett’s previous deflection method in the air opened the score. However, Nikita Kucherov was fined for a penalty kick and Tampa Bay played a strong match. At that time, Jake Guentzel crossed Sergei Bobrovsky’s swinging hockey, matching the game with the human advantage. In the last minute of the first phase, Sam Reinhart scored a goal from Dmitri Kulikov, giving the Panthers a 2-1 lead.
The second phase caused Florida bragging Tampa Bay to blow out of the water. Nate Schmidt crashed into the internet from Florida’s forced lapse and scored. Lightning challenged the goalkeeper’s interference target, but failed and lost. In just 14 seconds of the power play, Matthew Tkachuk brought Andrei Vasilevskiy’s Andrei Jock to the puck when he stretched the puck out in front alone to extend Florida’s lead to three goals. Tkachuk added another goal to the power play after Emil Lilleberg’s intervention penalty. However, Brayden Point added a beautiful one game, making it a 5-2 game.
Phase 3 is not good for Tampa Bay. Schmidt scored his second goal in the dying seconds, allowing the Panthers to score a 6-2 goal. Lightning failed to convert later power plays, which could cut the lead again.
Looking to the future
Lightning may not move forward without their firm defensive center, their depth is looking forward again. While the Lightning beat the Panthers and the scoring doesn’t tell the whole story, free throw kills and discipline must be improved to achieve a series that beat the defending Stanley Cup champion. Given their performance and injuries, head coach Jon Cooper is expected to change the boundaries.
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