Bolts by the Bay
Fansided

5 Takeaways from Lightning vs. Panthers Game 4

By Henry Yoho

(Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images)
(Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images) /
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TAMPA, FL – MAY 23: Andrei Vasilevskiy #88 of the Tampa Bay Lightning makes a save against Sam Reinhart #13 and Aleksander Barkov #16 of the Florida Panthers as Jan Rutta #44 defends during the second period in Game Four of the Second Round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amalie Arena on May 23, 2022 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FL – MAY 23: Andrei Vasilevskiy #88 of the Tampa Bay Lightning makes a save against Sam Reinhart #13 and Aleksander Barkov #16 of the Florida Panthers as Jan Rutta #44 defends during the second period in Game Four of the Second Round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amalie Arena on May 23, 2022 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images) /

3. Special Teams Made the Difference

The futility of the Florida Panthers’ powerplay ultimately did them in this series. They scored just one goal on the man advantage all playoffs.

Tampa Bay killed off all three Florida powerplays in game four including a huge kill in the final three minutes of the third period.

Special teams can make or break teams in these games, and they absolutely broke the Panthers in this series. Over the four games, the Lightning powerplay scored four times and the Panther powerplay just never really seemed to be much of a threat and could not bring them back into any games over the course of the series.

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