Pierre-Edouard Bellemare scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period, Andrei Vasilevskiy remained red-hot with 34 saves and the Lightning topped the Panthers 4-1 in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference semifinal series Tuesday night. Now the Lightning go tonight for another road win over their in state rivals the Florida Panthers in front of a hostile crowd in Sunrise as Game 2 of the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs takes place 7 pm tonight on TNT
Here are the fast facts –
Tampa Bay Lightning (51-23-8, third in the Atlantic Division) vs. Florida Panthers (58-18-6, first in the Atlantic Division)
Sunrise, Florida; Thursday, 7 p.m. EDT
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Panthers -156, Lightning +133; over/under is 6.5
NHL PLAYOFFS SECOND ROUND: Lightning lead series 1-0
BOTTOM LINE: The Tampa Bay Lightning visit the Florida Panthers in the second round of the NHL Playoffs with a 1-0 lead in the series. The teams meet Tuesday for the sixth time this season. The Lightning won 4-1 in the previous meeting.
Florida is 58-18-6 overall with a 16-2-2 record in Atlantic Division play. The Panthers are 53-8-2 when scoring at least three goals.
Tampa Bay has a 51-23-8 record overall and a 13-8-3 record in Atlantic Division play. The Lightning rank seventh in the league with 285 total goals (averaging 3.5 per game).
TOP PERFORMERS: Aleksander Barkov Jr. has 39 goals and 49 assists for the Panthers. Carter Verhaeghe has eight goals and six assists over the last 10 games.
