Takeaways: Florida Panthers 4, Tampa Bay Lightning 2
The Florida Panthers notched their fourth-straight victory to jump into first place in the Atlantic Division.
The Florida Panthers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2 for their fourth-straight victory behind a pair of shorthanded goals.
A.J. Greer and Eetu Luostarinen scored a pair of shorthanded goals 42 seconds apart to give Florida the lead midway through the second period. Spencer Knight held on to make 19 saves to secure the win.
Sam Reinhart scored his 21st goal of the season with 4:49 to go in the second period, deflecting an Aaron Ekblad shot on the power play to give Florida the lead.
Nick Paul erased that lead with 4.7 seconds to go in the first period. He received a slap pass from Victor Hedman and potted home a wrist shot from up front to tie the game.
Florida tested Tampa Bay’s third-ranked power play twice in the early going of the second period. Their first power play was unassuming, but the Panthers managed to turn it on its head the second time around.
A.J. Greer picked up the rebound of a Tomas Nosek rush attempt and slid it home with a backhand shot 10:28 into the second period. Eetu Luostarinen picked Anthony Cirelli’s pocket and beat Andrei Vasilevskiy off the rush 42 seconds later.
Brayden Point scored his 22nd goal of the year off the rush 3:26 into the third to make it a one-goal game. Reinhart scored the empty-netter to seal the win and tie Point for fourth in the NHL goal-scoring race.
Florida leapfrogged the Toronto Maple Leafs for first place in the Atlantic Division with the win.
Here are three takeaways from Sunday evening’s game:
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