The Florida Panthers wrapped up game two of a five-game homestand with a dominant 2-1 win over in-state rivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning. Not only was Seth Jones marvelous in his debut with the Cats, but the entire team from the ground up contributed to what was a complete effort to yet again keep the Bolts at bay.
Game Recap
The Panthers started the game strong, killing off a delay of game penalty in the early throes of the 1st period. Sergei Bobrovsky stood tall early on, turning away all six of Tampa Bay’s shots in the first half of the first period. The Cats’ offensive wagon was slow to start, garnering only a single shot on goal throughout the first 10 minutes of the first frame.
During his first shift as a Florida Panther, Seth Jones – lined up next to Niko Mikkola – seemed to mesh into the Cats’ physical man-to-man defensive system, which was more than a relief to see. He didn’t do anything flashy or spectacular; instead, it appeared as if he had been playing in this system for years. In Jones’ first practice/skate with the Cats’, he worked primarily with both the second power play and penalty kill units, and we were treated to a shift or two of the latter in the first period. In total, Jones blocked two shots and logged 7:11 of ice time in the first period spread over nine shifts.
The Tampa Bay Lightning would get two power play opportunities in the first period, both of which were not only fruitless but also saw Bolts’ netminder Andrei Vasilveskiy turn away beautiful shorthanded scoring opportunities courtesy of two-way king Aleksander Barkov.
The Panthers reestablished offensive dominance in the second period, peppering Vasilevskiy with plenty of shots early on, though the game remained tied as the Cats evened up the shots-on-goal totals at 10 apiece roughly three minutes in.
The Cats’ 11th shot on goal of the game came courtesy of none other than Jones. A beauty of a scoring chance on Vasilveskiy’s doorstep, the shot was deftly handled by the Bolts’ netminder as the game continued at a deadlock. Shortly before the halfway mark of the second period, Barkov deftly rolled off coverage from Brayden Point and broke the scoreless tie with an absolute snipe (unassisted, no less) from the slot for his 15th goal of the season.
Almost immediately after, the Cats would find themselves finally on the power play as Emil Lilleberg committed a holding penalty against Mackie Samoskevich during a battle for the puck along the boards. The power play was short-lived, however, as Aaron Ekblad boarded Zemgus Girgensons behind the Panthers’ net.
On the Panthers’ second power play of the game, Barkov netted his second goal of the game with yet another snipe in almost exactly the same spot as his first goal of the evening. A few seconds later, Eetu Luostarinen high-sticked Jake Guentzel in Bobrovsky’s crease, leading to a four-minute double minor as Guentzel was bloodied on the play. Bob and the penalty killers proved to be up to the task, as they finished the second period up 2-0, with four seconds left on the Bolts’ long power play that carried over into the third period.
The Cats picked up in the third period right where they left off and killed off the remaining four seconds on the Bolts’ power play. Roughly two minutes later, however, Point would finally beat Bobrovsky by sending his own rebound into the net to bring the scoreline to 2-1. The Cats then immediately headed back to the penalty kill after Tomáš Nosek was sent to the penalty box for high-sticking. Led by Bobrovsky’s net-front acrobatics, Gustav Forsling’s stalwart defensive efforts, and a chance shot that rang the crossbar, the Panthers’ penalty kill remained perfect on the night with roughly 15 minutes remaining in the game.
After much back-and-forth, the Panthers found themselves on the power play again with about four minutes left in the game as Bolts’ forward Brandon Hagel was penalized for hooking. The Cats didn’t score on the power play and the Bolts pulled Vasilevskiy with about a minute remaining in the game. With nine seconds left in the game, Anton Lundell was sent to the penalty box for tripping, but the Cats weathered the storm and secured the 2-1 win due in no small part to a beautiful last-second save by Bobrovsky.
