SUNRISE | “I don’t remember scoring a winning goal this late in a game. I don’t usually stand on the ice at all. »
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There was a lot of candidness in this statement by Ross Colton in a conference room at Sunrise’s FLA Live Arena. With just 3.8 seconds left on the clock, Colton scored the winning goal in the Lightning’s 2-1 win over the Panthers.
Nikita Kucherov acted at the very end of the meeting. The right winger pulled the Panthers’ two defenders, Gustav Forsling and MacKenzie Weegar, behind Sergei Bobrovsky’s net before serving up a perfect backhand pass to Colton.
Number 79 didn’t miss his chance. He hit Bobrovsky with a precise shot into the top of the net.
“I saw Kuch had the puck behind the net and my eyes got a little twinkle knowing the pass was coming for me,” said the 25-year-old American.
Author of a season with 39 points (22 goals, 17 assists) in 79 games, Colton now has 7 points (5 goals, 2 assists) in 9 games since the start of the playoffs.
Two wins away
Despite Brayden Point’s absence, the Lightning managed the feat of winning the first two games of this series in enemy territory. This team hasn’t won the Stanley Cup for the last two years by accident. Not only does she have talent, she also has remarkable determination.
“You want to win every game, we went into the away series with that mentality,” said Steven Stamkos. They sure want to steal a match, but after we stole one, we thought, “Now let’s be greedy”. Last year we won the first two games of the series against them. It’s so important, it’s a four-win race. »
“We know how good the Panthers are, the streak went to six games last year,” said Stamkos. We must keep the same mindset. It’s not time to breathe, you gotta keep your foot on the gas pedal. »
In the Panthers’ camp, they will try to recover from this heartbreaking setback. They’ll have a huge mountain to climb, but they’ve made many comebacks this year.
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Kutscherow
Kucherov made a magic pass to Ross Colton’s winning goal. He pulled both defenders his way to spot Colton with a backhand throw
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Barkow
The Panthers need their weapons to wake up offensively Aleksander Barkov is yet to point after two games against the Lightning
First period
1-TB: Corey Perry (4) (Stamkos, Hedman)AN-12:06
Penalties: Montour (Flo) 11:29
second period
2-FLO: Eetu Luostarinen (1) (Forsling, Giroux)18:07
Penalties: Bellemare (TB) 2:18, Hedman (TB) 10:24, Gudas (Flo) 14:25, Kucherov (TB) 19:13
third period
3-TB: Ross Colton (5) (Kucherov, Palat)19:56
Penalties: Bench penalty (Flo) (reserved by Verhaeghe) 8:44, Stamkos (TB) 16:37
Shoot the net
TAMPA BAY 6-12-9-27 FLORIDA 10-16-11-37
Guardian:
TB: Andrei Vasilevskiy (G, 6-3), FLO: Sergei Bobrovsky (P, 4-4)
Numerical advantages:
TB: 1 of 3, FLO: 0 of 4
Referee:
Jean Hebert, Chris Rooney
linesman:
Matt MacPherson, David Brisebois
HELP:
19,716
Sergei Bobrovsky
★★★
One cut, one goal
Corey Perry doesn’t need the look of a playoff player. He already is. While warming up, Perry got a puck that just hit the horizontal bar right in the face. He visited the infirmary to get stitches. The #10 Lightning was back for the final seconds of the warm-up. As in the first game of this series, he scored the first goal for the Lightning, again on the power play. Placed in the middle of the ice, he diverted a pass from Steven Stamkos to score his fourth goal of the playoffs.
Five forward
Andrew Brunette racks his brains to find a solution to their power play. On the last two occasions, Brunette has bet on five attackers in his first wave with Claude Giroux, Anthony Duclair, Sam Reinhart, Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau. The Panthers buzzed on a penalty kick against Steven Stamkos late in the third period, but they didn’t score. They finished game zero in four. They now have a terrible 0-25 record after eight playoff games.
Tons of courage
Jon Cooper spoke about engagement ahead of the game. He applauded the determination of his players, who never hesitate to block shots. This was also the case in the second game with 22 blocked shots. Erik Cernak, injured in the first game, led with four blocked shots. Stamkos also played like a captain, blocking a hard shot from MacKenzie Weegar with his right hand. He chased the pain away in the dressing room for a few seconds before returning to his post. Big teams have a knack for small plays.
Vasilevskiy still solid
Andrei Vasilevskiy had another strong start with 36 saves. However, number 88 offered a rare gift in a slap shot from Finland’s Eetu Luostarinen.