*Photo from TheScore*
Tampa Bay leads series 3-0
So far, this series has not been close at all. Steven Stamkos scored two goals, Nikita Kucherov had a goal and 3 assists, and the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Florida Panthers with a 5-1 victory on Sunday afternoon in Tampa Bay.
After winning game one by 3 goals, and winning game two at the buzzer, the Lightning picked up the win in game 3 at home, widening their series lead in the battle of Florida to 3-0, sitting one win away from advancing to the eastern conference finals. Teams that have a 3-0 series lead in the playoffs have an all time record of 197-4, and 1-0 this postseason.
Stamkos said of going up 3 games in the series that "At this time of the year, it's about winning and you need to do what's going to produce the wins. It's not always pretty and it's not always going to be the highlight plays, although there are some, especially with Kucherov out there."
Getting the scoring started was Corey Perry, who put the Lightning ahead 1-0 at the 13:21 mark of the first, his 5th goal of the playoffs, with assists from Kucherov and Ryan McDonagh. On the power play 16:07 into the game, Sam Reinhart got the Panthers on the board, evening the score after one period of play.
In the second period, Erik Cernak scored the eventual game winning goal, putting the Lighting ahead 2-1 with his first goal of the playoffs, coming 2:54 into the second. At the 10:23 mark of the period, Stamkos scored his first of the night, making it 3-1 Lighting after two periods, assisted by Kucherov and Victor Hedman.
After a scoreless first 16 minutes of the 3rd period, Kucherov got on the board with his 4th goal of the playoffs, coming 16:06 into the 3rd to put the Lightning ahead 4-1 late. Stamkos then put up his second goal of the night, with 2:09 left in regulation, making it 5-1 Lightning with assists coming from Kucherov and Mikhail Sergachev.
Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper said that "We're pleased with what's going on here, but you know, we haven't done anything yet. We only won a couple games but the series isn't over. And until you start checking off that fourth win, there's nothing we can sit and hang our hat on. So we're inching our way closer, but this is far from over."
Picking up his 5th straight win in goal for the Lightning was Andrei Vasilevskiy, who continued his torrid stretch of play this postseason. Vasilevskiy stopped all but one of the 35 shots that the Panthers directed at him, posting a stellar .971 save percentage.
For the Panthers, Sergei Bobrovsky was once again in net, losing his 3rd straight game. Bobrovsky turned away 31 out of the 34 shots on goal the Lightning had, recording a .912 save percentage in the loss, with the Panthers season now hanging in the balance.
Reinhart said of falling 3 games back in the series that "It's tough not to get frustrated. I think there's certain things we're doing well, but obviously it's not enough bodies around the net picking up those loose opportunities. It's certainly frustrating when you're that close but you're not ultimately getting it in."
Up next, game 4 of the series is on Monday night, wrapping up a back to back. The Lightning will look to secure a series sweep with a win, while the Panthers will try to stay alive and force a game 5 in the series.
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