The Florida Panthers welcomed their oldest and most bitter rival to Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.
In what was a tightly contested and contentious battle, the Panthers ultimately couldn’t generate enough offense and fell to the Lightning by a final score of 3-1.
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Tampa got on the board first thanks to a perfect shot off the stick of Emil Lilleberg.
Right off an offensive zone draw won by Brayden Point, Lilberg wired a wrist shot that went over the blocker of Sergei Bobrovsky and underneath the crossbar to give the Bolts a 1-0 lead 12:19 into the game.
It took a while, but Florida eventually found a way to get the game back to even.
With Zemgus Girgensons in the penalty box for charging Mackie Samoskevich, Florida scored right off the ensuing faceoff.
As a horde of players came together at the dot, Sam Reinhart found the puck at his skates and wisely kicked it to the tape of Brad Marchand, who went in alone on Andrei Vasilevskiy and wired a backhand that went off the post and in with 8:29 to go in the middle frame.
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Tampa’s Jack Finley scored his first career goal early in the third period to put the Bolts back in front.
On what appeared to be a routine zone clear, the puck bounced through the neutral zone and right to Finley, who went in all alone on Bobrovsky after Dominic Sebrango lost his footing in the neutral zone trying to check Finley.
The Lightning would add an empty net goal with just under a minute to go, sealing the victory for the visitors.
On to the Canucks.
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Photo caption: Mar 3, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers center Anton Lundell (15) moves the puck past Tampa Bay Lightning center Jake Guentzel (59) during the first period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)
