Reilly Smith's goal towards the end of regulation helped the Florida Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1 on Monday.
With the win, Florida improved to 6-6-1 on the season and the team now has 13 points. The Panthers have struggled on the road, but they have played well on their home ice at BB&T Center. With Monday's win in Sunrise, Florida is now 5-2-0 at home this year.
Florida used a first period goal from Jonathan Marchessault to help pick up the win. The score came at the 3:10 mark of the first period and kept Florida ahead until the third period. Assisting on Marchessault's seventh goal of the season were Aleksander Barkov and Keith Yandle. The goal came during a Florida power play and kept Marchessault as the team's leading scorer.
After Tampa Bay tied the game at one early into the third period, Reilly Smith put Florida back on top for good. Smith's goal was his third of the season and was unassisted. The goal found the net at the 15:32 mark of the last period of regulation.
In the final seconds of play, Derek MacKenzie would add another goal to the scoreboard. MacKenzie's first goal of the season came with an empty net and had an assist on it from Keith Yandle.
Roberto Luongo was solid in the net for Florida and made 34 saves on his 35 chances. Luongo improved to 4-5-0 on the year with the victory and ended a personal four-game losing streak.
The Panthers will stay home to host the San Jose Sharks on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
