Steven Stamkos scores twice, Lightning avoid elimination with 6-3 victory over Panthers
Steven Stamkos scored his fourth and fifth goals of the series and the Tampa Bay Lightning avoided elimination with a 6-3 victory over the Florida Panthers in Game 4 of the first-round playoff matchup Saturday night.
Panthers score twice in the third period and beat the Lightning 3-2 in Game 1 of NHL playoffs
Carter Verhaeghe tapped in a pinpoint pass from Aleksander Barkov for the lead 58 seconds into the third period, Matthew Tkachuk added a goal and an assist and the Florida Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 in Game 1 of their NHL playoff series opener.
Sam Reinhart has 4-point game, Panthers overcome Connor Bedard, Blackhawks 4-3
Sam Reinhart had two goals and two assists, Carter Verhaeghe got the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the Florida Panthers withstood two highlight-reel scores from rookie Connor Bedard to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3.
Driedger gets third shutout as Panthers beat Lightning 4-0
Chris Driedger stopped 30 shots to record his third shutout of the season, Juho Lammikko scored a short-handed goal, and the Florida Panthers secured home-ice advantage for the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs with a 4-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in the regular season finale for both clubs.
Florida Panthers off to 2nd-best start in franchise history
Floridaโs 6-1-2 start through nine games is the second-best in franchise history, topped only by the 6-0-3 record to open the 1996-97 season. โWe've been consistent in most games," Florida coach Joel Quenneville said. Starting poorly, however, has pretty much snuffed out some Panthers seasons before they even started. The five Florida teams that went to the playoffs โ 1995-96, 1996-97, 1999-2000, 2011-12 and 2015-16 โ averaged 12 standings points through the seasonโs first nine games. Thereโs obviously a long way to go, but the Panthers finally have the start they wanted.