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Tampa Bay Lightning Ties Franchise Record In 4-3 Win Over the Florida Panthers

By Tasha St. Pierre

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The Tampa Bay Lightning has tied a franchise record with 46 wins in a single season with their 4-3 win over the Florida Panthers.

The Tampa Bay Lightning had a trying second period, but thanks to a much-improved third period and a game-winning goal by Lightning right wing Ryan Callahan, the Tampa Bay Lightning would tie a franchise record for single season wins with 46 in their 4-3 win over the Florida Panthers.

The Tampa Bay Lightning wasted no time getting the party started tonight. Just 5:49 into the first period, Lightning left wing Brenden Morrow broke the ice for the Bolts banking the puck off of Panthers goaltender Roberto Luongo to give the Lightning the early lead.

Just under two minutes later, the Lightning would strike again. This time, it is center Tyler Johnson who would fire the puck just over the stick hand of Luongo to increase the Lightning’s lead to two.

The Panthers went quite a bit into the first period before registering their first official shot on goal; however, they would somehow end up outshooting the Bolts 12-10 in the first period.

This may have had a little bit to do with the fact that the Lightning saw the only two penalties in the first period.

Vasilevskiy may have only seen 12 shots that period, but there is no denying that he came up with some huge saves when the Lightning needed him the most. Vasilevskiy has only seen seven games (including tonight) in his short NHL career, but you would never know it. He plays like a true professional.

Unfortunately, the second period is absolutely nothing like the first period for the Tampa Bay Lightning. If the first period was a daydream, then the second was nothing short of a nightmare.

Just over the 6 minute mark in the second period, Panthers left wing Jussi Jokinen would get the Panthers on the board with a simple wrist shot. Then…it happened. Just 18 seconds later, center Brandon Pirri would nudge a puck past the shoulder of Vasilevskiy and into the back of the net to tie the game for the Panthers.

The bad news is that the bleeding didn’t stop there. Panthers left wing Jonathan Huberdeau nudged the puck just past Vasilevskiy to score his 12th goal of the season and give the Panthers the lead for the first time tonight.

It almost seems as if the Tampa Bay Lightning decided that they didn’t need to try against the Panthers in the first half of the second period. You simply cannot play like this against a team that is scratching and clawing to get their paws on one of the last spots in the post season. They are hungry, and it shows.

Once again, the Panthers outshot the Lightning – this time by a differential of 10-7. This gave the Panthers a two-period advantage of 22-17 in shots.

During the intermission, Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman spoke to Paul Kennedy and the Swedish defenseman flat out said he was embarrassed by the way the Lightning played in the second. We all know that the Lightning is better than this; we have been watching it all season long.

When the Tampa Bay Lightning took the ice for the third period, we saw the team that took the ice in the first period of the game. Apparently Hedman must have spoken his mind in the locker room during the intermission because these Bolts came out on a mission.

Just 1:30 into the period, Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov hit the wrap around with assists from defenseman Andrej Sustr and left wing Ondrej Palat. This would tie the game at 3 for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Beyond that the Lightning would continue to play aggressively, but after 15 minutes in the third period the Tampa Bay Lightning would only be able to muster 3 shots on goal in comparison to the Panthers’ 10.

Just when Tampa Bay Lightning fans, including us, believed that this bad boy was headed to overtime, Lightning right wing Ryan Callahan would sneak out from behind the net and bury the puck behind Roberto Luongo with just over two minutes left in the period.

Needless to say, this caused a bit of panic on the Panthers bench causing the Panthers to call a timeout.

With just over a minute left in the game, the Panthers would finally pull Luongo from between the pipes to gain the extra attacker. The Panthers would give the Lightning everything they had, including a nice rush by Jaromir Jagr, but it was just not meant to be. The Tampa Bay Lightning would defeat the Florida Panthers 4-3.

Ultimately, the Lightning were outplayed on the ice bringing only 25 Shots on Goal against Roberto Luongo against the Panthers’ 36 shots on Andrei Vasilevskiy. We actually believed at one point that Luongo could have pulled up a chair and taken a seat for a while.

Thankfully, the Lightning got their head into the game in the third and were able to come back late and pull out the win. As we mentioned before, with their 46th win of the season, the Tampa Bay Lightning has tied their franchise win for single season wins. Did we forget to mention there is still eight more games this season?

Next up for the Tampa Bay Lightning, they will play host to the Nashville Predators in the final game in their six-game home stand at the Amalie Arena. Much like the Lightning, the Predators are in prime position for the post season and playing for positioning at this point in the game. This makes them just as hungry as the Bolts.

The Lightning are going to have to keep their foot on the gas for a whole 60 Minutes if they want to bring home the two points against the Predators and finish off this home stand on a high note.

Who do you think really stood out in tonight’s 4-3 win over the Florida Panthers? What do you think we can take away from this encounter and use against the Predators on Thursday night? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Next: Who Should the Tampa Bay Lightning Play in the First Round of the Playoffs?

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