The Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning meet Saturday in Game 4 Eastern Conference NHL Playoffs action at the Amalie Arena. Here’s a Florida Panthers vs Tampa Bay Lightning prediction.
Game Three Recap: Panthers Push Bolts To Brink
The Florida Panthers come into this one looking to eliminate the rival Lightning after pushing Tampa Bay to the brink of elimination with a 3-0 series lead following their 5-3 win over Tampa Bay last time out. It was a back and forth fight the whole way, as Matthew Tkachuk opened the scoring for Florida with the lone goal of the opening frame. Steven Stamkos and Tyler Motte scored 2:12 apart to open the second and to give Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead. Sam Reinhart would tie things for Florida at two just before the midway point of the second and Brandon Montour made it 3-2 Cats with 3:30 to go in the Second.
Steven Lorentz pushed the Florida lead to 4-2 just before the midway point of the 3rd, and while Nic Paul cut the deficit to 4-3 with just over five minutes to play, that was as close as Tampa Bay would get as Tkachuk iced Florida’s win with an empty-netter with 32 seconds to go. Sergei Bobrovsky got the win for the Panthers after stopping 26 of 29 shots faced in the winning effort while Andrei Vasilevskiy took the loss for the Lightning after allowing 4 goals on 30 shots in the loss.
Florida Panthers Player Stats
Sam Reinhart leads the Panthers in scoring with 94 points including a team-high 57 goals and 37 assists while Aleksander Barkov has 80 points with 23 goals and 57 assists. Carter Verhaeghe has 72 points with 34 goals and 38 assists while Matthew Tkachuk has 88 points with 62 assists of his own this season. Sergei Bobrovsky has posted a 36-17-4 mark with a 2.37 GAA and .915 save percentage in goal for Florida this season while Anthony Stolarz is 16-7-2 with a 2.03 GAA and a .925 save percentage this season.
Tampa Bay Lightning Player Stats
Nikita Kucherov leads the Lightning in scoring with 144 points including a team-high 44 goals and 100 assists while Brayden Point has 46 goals and 44 assists for his 90 points. Victor Hedman’s added 76 points with 63 assists while Steven Stamkos has 81 points with 41 assists and Brandon Hagel has 75 points split between 26 goals and 49 assists. Jonas Johansson has gone 12-7-5 with a 3.37 GAA and an .890 save percentage while Andrei Vasilevskiy is 30-20-2 with a 2.90 GAA and a .900 save percentage this season.
Tampa Bay Lightning Team Facts
- The Lightning have won each of their last five home games against the Panthers following a home loss.
- The Lightning have covered the puck line in each of their last six games as underdogs.
- The Lightning have won the second period in five of their last six games following a home loss.
- The ‘Over 1.5 Goals Period 1’ market has hit in each of the Lightning’s last eight games following a home loss.
Florida Panthers Team Facts
- The Panthers have won each of their last seven games.
- The Panthers have covered the puck line in each of their last eight Saturday night games at Amalie Arena.
- The ‘Over 1.5 Goals Period 1′ market has hit in each of the Panthers’ last eight games as favorites against Atlantic Division opponents.
- The Panthers have won the first period in each of their last four games at Amalie Arena.
Florida Panthers vs Tampa Bay Lightning prediction
I’m on the Panthers here. I’ve screamed it from the mountain tops all year long and stand by it, the Lightning’s best years are behind them and this playoff series has been proof of that. This year’s Lightning team felt different and not in a good way and in this series, the bounces that past Tampa Bay teams would get, the puck luck if you will, just wasn’t there and I think it’s going to be their downfall here. The Panthers have simply had an answer at every turn and I think they have one more here. Give me the Panthers.