The Panthers took out the fangs early in the first game of the second-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday in Florida, but lightning finally overcame them, winning 4-1.
The visitors took full advantage of their power play to take a 1-0 series lead, scoring three of their four goals in such circumstances.
Corey Perry is the first to have taken advantage of the excess, in the second period. The former Montreal Canadiens let Nikita Kucherov serve a cup of coffee to defender Aaron Ekblad at the entrance to the zone, before passing the puck to him, who only had to push it into a gaping cage.
Kucherov also took advantage of the man advantage late in the third period, beating goalkeeper Sergei Bobrovsky with an accurate shot. Crowd favorites head coach Andrew Brunette decided to contest the net, judging there had been obstruction on his masked man, but was instead handed a penalty for delaying the game, as he was wrong. Ross Colton then took the opportunity to complete the score.
The Lightning finally took advantage of half of their six power play advantages in this duel.
Pierre-Édouard Bellemare was the other scorer for the winners, he who scored the only goal for his team in equal numbers. It is also the winning goal.
The Panthers strike first
The Panthers had however retired to the locker room, after 20 minutes of play, with a 1-0 lead. Anthony Duclair scored their only goal, helped among others by another Quebecer, Jonathan Huberdeau.
The latter will have to step up his game if the Panthers wish to advance to the next round, he who has amassed only three points in six games in the first round, after finishing the regular season tied for second in scoring, with 115 dots.
The Panthers will have the opportunity to even the odds in the series on Thursday, again at FLA Live Arena.
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