It’s full playoff mode in South Florida, as the Miami Heat and Florida Panthers begin their hunt for hardware, while Inter Miami eyes a CONCACAF Champions Cup title.
Aaron Ekblad and Seth Jones scored third-period goals 11 seconds apart and the Florida Panthers stormed from behind to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2 on Monday night to take a 3-1 lead in the first-round series.
Anton Lundell also scored and Carter Verhaeghe added an empty-netter. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 18 shots.
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The Panthers had managed just three shots on goal in the third before Ekblad tied it with 3:47 remaining, sending the crowd at Amerant Bank Arena into a roar. Jones found the back of the net shortly after to go ahead and erase a two-goal deficit.
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The goals were the fastest by defensemen from the same team in Stanley Cup Playoffs history.
Florida will now have a chance to clinch the series Wednesday night in Tampa.
“From Game 1 you could feel the hatred in the locker room,” Jones said. “You could feel the hatred on the ice. But it’s most importantly about winning. The job’s not finished. We’ve got to go to Tampa and have a good game.”
Tampa Bay’s Brandon Hagel left in the second period after taking a high hit from Ekblad, who made contact with the left wing’s chin area and sent him onto his back. Hagel went straight to the locker room and no penalty was called.
Lundell got the Panthers on the board at 9:06 in the second after Florida had sent many good looks either too wide or high at goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, who made 19 saves. Mitchell Chaffee and Erik Cernak responded for the Lightning with another pair of goals 11 seconds apart to make it 2-1 heading into the third.
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Ekblad had a tying goal overturned in the third after a successful challenge by the Lightning for offside, which kept the score at 2-1 before the defenseman, in just his second game back from a 20-game suspension, picked up a rebound and put it past Vasilevskiy.
“Good for him,” said Florida coach Paul Maurice. “The first nongoal was a heater. And you’ve seen that from him. The tying goal, some great patience. So good for him, does a great job of getting up the ice and timing when to go in and to take that chance. So he’s an important part of what we do.”
Hagel did not return after the hit from Ekblad, which happened before Tampa Bay’s goals. Hagel was back from a one game suspension after his late hit knocked Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov out of Game 2.
The play on Monday reflected the chippy nature of the series, which has had a somewhat controversial hit in three straight games. After Hagel’s hit in Game 2, Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk landed a late hit on Jake Guentzel in Game 3 and was assessed a five-minute major, though he was not suspended.
Florida’s Niko Mikkola was hit with a five-minute major and a game misconduct early in the third period Monday for boarding Zemgus Girgensons, who was on his knees.
“It’s getting tiresome answering questions about a hit every single game,” said Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper. “Why are you asking me the question? If anyone in here has something (to say), stand up and let me know.”
The Panthers were able to kill off that penalty, giving Florida the momentum it needed to mount a comeback.
