*Photo from ABC Action News*
Tampa Bay wins series 4-2
The playoff edition of the battle of Florida has reached it's conclusion, and boy, was it a fun series to watch. Steven Stamkos scored, Brayden Point and Alex Killorn both added goals, and the Tampa Bay Lightning shut out the Florida Panthers 4-0 on Wednesday night. Pat Maroon also scored for the Lightning.
Maroon started the scoring 6:16 into the game, with his first goal of the playoffs making it 1-0 Tampa Bay early. 13:27 into the second period, Stamkos scored on a wicked one timer on the power play to up the lead to 2-0 Lightning. In the 3rd period, goals from Point and Killorn sealed the 4-0 win for the Lightning.
Stamkos said of the win that "It was our best effort by far in the playoffs in the biggest game that we've played so far. That's what experienced teams do in those situations. They step up when it's time to step up. We didn't like our game last time and we talked about it. We have the best goalie in the world, and he shut the door."
The goalie Stamkos is referring to, Andrei Vasilevskiy, put up a dominant performance, stopping all 29 shots he faced for the shutout. It's the second playoff shut out of Vasilevskiy's career, with the first one coming in game 6 of the Stanley Cup final against the Dallas Stars in the Edmonton bubble last season, the game that the Lightning hoisted the cup.
Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said "You've probably heard the fourth one is the toughest to win in a series, and when you have a chance to do it you don't want to waste them. We had a plan set. But the players, it was 60 minutes of sheer will and compete. And to win in this league that's what you need. When you make the playoffs, you need it from everybody. The players gave it. They get all the credit in the world."
It was young Spencer Knight who started for the Panthers, and he got stuck with the loss as the Panthers got knocked out, saving 20 of 23 shots he faced. After Knight stopped 36 shots in game 5, he was unable to replicate that performance in game 6 to keep Florida's season alive.
Knight said "I think it was good to just get a taste of what playoffs are like. But I think for me coming in, it wasn't trying to stay in awe, I was trying to help the team win. That was my priority and goal and to have fun while I was doing it. A couple weeks after I'll look back on it from that point of view, but right now it's tough."
Regardless, Knight does create an interesting dilemma for Florida this offseason, as Chris Driedger is a pending UFA. If the Panthers feel that Knight is ready to serve as Sergei Bobrovsky's backup in the NHL, they could let Driedger walk. Or, they could sign Driedger to a short term deal to let Knight develop in the AHL a little more.
Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau said of the loss that he is "Obviously disappointed. I thought we had our chances in this series, could have went either way. Early we're down 2-0, could have went the other way. It's going to take a little bit to swallow this one, but that's the most fun I had this year. We had a good group, it just didn't go our way in the first round."
The Lightning will move on to the second round, where they will face the Hurricanes or Predators. The Panthers move to the offseason, with a goalie situation to sort out.
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