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How 2 wiped-out Lightning goals helped the Panthers eliminate Tampa Bay in Game 5: 3 takeaways

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How 2 wiped-out Lightning goals helped the Panthers eliminate Tampa Bay in Game 5: 3 takeaways

SUNRISE, Fla. — As it turned out, the Florida Panthers didn’t wake up a sleeping giant after all with a Game 4 pounding by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Last year’s Eastern Conference champs moved on to the second round Monday night by defeating their cross-state rivals, 6-1, at Amerant Bank Arena behind two goals and an assist from Selke Trophy frontrunner Aleksander Barkov, including a game-winning short-handed goal in the second period.

Carter Verhaeghe also scored two goals and an assist, Evan Rodrigues and Niko Mikkola scored late in the third period, Matthew Tkachuk had two assists and Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves and was especially brilliant in the third period on close calls against Brayden Point, Victor Hedman and Matt Dumba all prior to Barkov’s second goal.

Barkov registered his 11th career multi-point playoff game. He is Florida’s all-time leader with 52 playoff games, 29 assists and 41 points. He had 16 points during the Panthers’ run to the 2023 Stanley Cup Final.

Hedman scored the lone goal for the Lightning, who had two goals wiped out due to goalie interference.

Teams that hold a 3-1 lead in a best-of-7 series are now 307-32 all-time. The Panthers have won eight of their past 10 playoff games at home, including all three games in their first-round series. They will face the winner of the Boston Bruins– Toronto Maple Leafs series.

‘Mr. Clutch’ clutch as usual

When the stakes get higher, Verhaeghe always comes through. After a 0-0 first period, it was the former Lightning’s Stanley Cup champ who followed his own shot and buried the rebound for the game’s first goal. He later set up Barkov’s second goal of the game and added an empty-netter. Verhaeghe finished with at least a point in every game of the series and earlier in the round scored his fifth career overtime winner. Verhaeghe’s 20 postseason goals with the Panthers are the most in club history. He also leads the club in even-strength goals (18), even-strength points (38) and game-winning goals (eight). Remember, this is a guy who scored seven goals and 17 points in 21 playoff games last year. Verhaeghe’s five goals and 11 points in seven games leads all skaters in Panthers history in goals and points in potential series-clinching games.

Cirelli part of two goals being taken off the board

Anthony Cirelli’s mood was at a boiling point late in the second period when he cruelly became part of a second Lightning goal to be wiped off the board. With 2:12 left in the second period, Mikhail Sergachev thought he had completed a comeback from 2-0 down with a tying goal. But referee Eric Furlatt immediately waved off the goal asserting that Cirelli was in the crease and knocked Bobrovsky’s stick out of his grasp. Coach Jon Cooper challenged, but the NHL’s Situation Room in Toronto upheld the call and Florida got a power play. What made this especially ironic is the Lightning thought they jumped out to a 1-0 first-period lead when Cirelli found Dumba’s rebound, skating himself into open space and burying the puck into an open net. But there was a reason the net was wide open, the Florida coaching staff determined. Paul Maurice challenged that Anthony Duclair inhibited Bobrovsky’s ability to make the save, and after a long review between the referees and the Situation Room, it was determined there was indeed goalie interference and the goal was overturned. Duclair’s right skate entered the crease, Bobrovsky’s glove got tangled around his ankle and the league decided it affected his ability to slide over. Cooper, like the second-period decision, wasn’t too pleased with the ruling.

Has Stamkos played his final game with Lightning?

Was this Steven Stamkos’ exit? If so, what a series and career in Tampa Bay for the 34-year-old captain and 2008 first-overall pick. The two-time Stanley Cup champion is in the last year of his contract and there has been no conversation between the Lightning and the two-time Rocket Richard winner that we know of. Stamkos has maintained he wants to stay and the team plans to open talks once the season is over. Stamkos is the Lightning’s all-time leader with 1,082 games, 555 goals, 1,137 points, 214 power-play goals, 85 game-winning goals, 3,332 shots and 13 hat tricks. In the playoffs, he ranks third with 50 goals and 101 points. If this was his swan song, he had a fabulous series with five goals in five games, including at least one goal in the first four games of the series.

go-deeper

GO DEEPER

What comes next for Steven Stamkos and the Lightning?

(Photo: Eliot J. Schechter / NHLI via Getty Images)

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