TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Eetu Luostarinen had a goal and three assists to lead the Florida Panthers to a 6-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning and advance Florida to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Carter Verhaeghe, Anton Lundell, Aleksander Barkov, Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart also scored for Florida. Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 26 saves as the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers defeated their in-state rival in five games in the first round for the second consecutive season.
“I know every year is gets harder and harder, and this series was really hard,’’ Barkov said. “So, we’re happy with the end result.’’
The Panthers will play the winner of the series between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators, which Toronto currently leads 3-2. Game 6 is Thursday.
Nick Paul, Gage Goncalves and Jake Guentzel scored for Tampa Bay. Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 25 saves. Since advancing to three consecutive Stanley Cup Final appearances from 2020-2022, the Lightning have lost in the first round for the past three seasons. Tampa Bay fell to 1-9 in the past 10 home playoff games.
“We have a group in here that we really believe in, and that’s not going to change going forward,’’ Lightning captain Victor Hedman said. ”Three straight years, we’re knocked out in the first round, so we’re going to have to put a stop to that next year.’’
