Lightning unable to hold lead, face elimination after Game 3 loss

TAMPA -- For the first 10 minutes of the second period on Thursday, the Tampa Bay Lightning looked like, well, the Tampa Bay Lightning.

They were hitting, making crisp passes, getting pucks to the net, and most importantly, putting them past Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. They scored twice to take their first lead in this Eastern Conference First Round, and suddenly, winning Game 3 on home ice and cutting into Florida’s series lead looked very possible.

But just when it seemed like the Lightning had found their winning formula, the Panthers became, well, the Panthers, scoring two goals of their own and then clamping down on defense, taking back the momentum and eventually a 5-3 win. The Panthers lead the best-of-7 series 3-0 with a chance to complete the sweep in Game 4 here Saturday (5 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TBS, BSSUN, BSFL, SNP, SNW, SNE, TVAS).

“It was tough to come out of that second period down a goal because I felt we deserved a better fate,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.

They probably did.

Trailing 1-0 after a somewhat listless first period, the Lightning came out flying to start the second period and tied the game 44 seconds in when Steven Stamkos tipped in a pass into the crease from Victor Hedman.

The goal woke up a crowd that was grumbling over the Lightning's lack of shots on goal (10) in the first period.

Then, 2:12 later, Tyler Motte cut into the slot and beat Bobrovsky with a wrist shot over his glove to give Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead, its first of the series.

Then the barrage began, with eight shot attempts -- three on goal -- from the Lightning over the next seven minutes. They had a golden opportunity when Michael Eyssimont’s wrist shot was redirected by Bobrovsky right to the stick of Emil Lilleberg, who quickly fired the puck on goal, only to be denied by the Panthers goalie.

Nearly 30 seconds later, Darren Raddysh appeared to have a clean shot at the goal, but he hit the post, keeping it a one-goal game.

“I thought we played maybe the best 10 minutes of the series right there,” said Stamkos, the Tampa Bay captain. “We were controlling the play. Physically, I thought we were on top of it finally and then yeah, I mean it’s just little mistakes that are either costing us and that’s the difference at this time of the year. It’s just that we basically played three one-goal games and they’ve gotten the better of us.”

The first mistake was a turnover in the defensive zone by forward Anthony Duclair that resulted in Panthers forward Sam Reinhart getting an open shot to the left of Vasilevskiy. He fired it home over a sliding Lilleberg, who appeared the screen the Tampa Bay goalie. Just like that, the game was tied 2-2 at 9:58 of the second period.

Six-and-a-half minutes later, Panthers defenseman Brandon Montour took a slap shot from the point that somehow got through three players and over Vasilevskiy’s right shoulder, giving Florida a 3-2 lead.

“They weren’t in our end too much and in the two times they were, they had a couple of seeing-eye singles around the net,” Cooper said. “Don’t get me wrong, two good players, one from 67 feet, and it was a bullet, no doubt, but a tough one to put where he put it. He just found a way.”

From there, the Lightning had trouble mounting any sustained attack, and when Steven Lorentz gave Florida a 4-2 lead at 9:41 of the third period, the game seemed out of reach. Tampa Bay’s Nicholas Paul cut it to 4-3 with 5:10 left, but Matthew Tkachuk scored his second goal of the game into an empty net to make it 5-3.

Stamkos said the Lightning’s trouble scoring is not all on them.

“They’re doing a lot of good things, that’s a very, very good hockey team over there that plays with a style that you need to play to win at this time of year, no question about that,” Stamkos said. “We still believe we can go out and win the next game and that’s what we need to do, focus on one game.”

What would help the Lightning’s chances of staying alive is getting its power play going. The best power play in the NHL during the regular season (28.6 percent) is at 16.7 percent in the postseason (2-for-12), including going 0-for-4 on Thursday.

“I think they were the best defensive team in the game this year, they’re really good at defending,” Stamkos said. “We have to make them be uncomfortable and get the lead early and that will be something that we look forward to doing in the next game.”

And that’s all the Lightning can focus on, winning Game 4 to keep their season alive.

“There’s no more games if you lose the next one,” Motte said. “Our backs are against the wall. [Time to] find out who you are and come out swinging.”

Cooper also said this is no time for the Lightning to give up, despite the fact only four teams in the history of the NHL have won a best-of-7 series after trailing 3-0.

“We want the believers to show up at the rink tomorrow and if you’re not going to believe, you don’t have to come,” Cooper said. “So, we’ll see who shows up tomorrow.“