Tkachuk helps Panthers win Game 3, push Lightning to brink 

TAMPA -- Matthew Tkachuk scored two goals, and the Florida Panthers pushed the Tampa Bay Lightning to the brink of elimination with a 5-3 win in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Amalie Arena on Thursday.

Game 4 of the best-of-7 series will be here on Saturday (5 p.m. ET; TBS, TruTV, MAX, BSSUN, BSFL).

"We're in a position right now that we would have dreamed about at the beginning of the series," Tkachuk said. "But there have been stretches where they have played really well, and I think it's been a really close series so far in the first three games. We've been getting some unbelievable goaltending, that's really weathered the storm for us."

Brandon Montour and Steven Lorentz each had a goal and an assist, and Sam Reinhart scored for Florida, the No. 1 seed from the Atlantic Division. Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves.

"So we've got a three-game lead, but I don't feel that," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "I've always felt all these playoff games are incredibly tight. It's tight and that's what we'll expect coming to the rink the next game."

Steven Stamkos, Nicholas Paul and Tyler Motte scored, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 26 saves for Tampa Bay, the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the East. The Lightning were 0-for-4 on the power play and have lost six straight playoff games at Amalie Arena.

"We had a couple of power plays that we didn't do much with," said Stamkos, the Lightning captain. "In a game that we got that many opportunities and they didn't, that's probably the difference in winning. We didn't have the execution that we're accustomed to. The effort was there, maybe the execution wasn't there in certain aspects."

Tkachuk gave Florida a 1-0 lead at 10:39 of the first period when he chipped the puck in from below the right face-off circle off a pass from Anton Lundell from behind the net.

Stamkos tied it 1-1 at 44 seconds of the second period when Victor Hedman’s shot from the top of the left circle deflected in off his leg in front of the net.

Motte gave the Lightning a 2-1 lead at 2:56 with a wrist shot from the high slot.

"This is the playoffs, you've got to produce and there's not a lot of time to think," Motte said. "You have to turn the page and go right back to work. We've just got to push. Obviously, our backs are against the wall. This is when you find out who you really are."

Reinhart tied it 2-2 at 9:58, taking a pass from Vladimir Tarasenko and scoring with a wrist shot from the left circle.

Montour gave the Panthers a 3-2 lead at 16:30 when his slap shot from the left point beat Vasilevskiy stick side.

"Over the playoffs you're going to get highs and lows," Montour said. "Being at home for them, they're going to have pushes throughout the game. We stay even keel. We're down in the game, we kept pushing. Fourth line came up big, each line produced in many ways defensively and offensively. We got the lead and held on and kept pushing for the next one."

Lorentz extended the lead to 4-2 at 9:41 of the third period when he chipped the puck in from the slot.

The Panthers' fourth line of Lorentz, Nick Cousins and Kyle Okposo was on the ice for Montour’s go-ahead goal and the goal by Lorentz. Okposo, who hadn’t played in the playoffs since 2016, had an assist on Montour's goal.

"We were fortunate tonight that we were able to contribute on the score sheet," Lorentz said. "With the limited minutes we get, we've got to bring the energy and keep the group alive. This fourth line that we have with the five or six guys who have rotated through, we're happy for each other's success. The guys who are out of the lineup, they want to get back in just as bad, but they are happy to see us do well, too. That's the way it's been through the year and that's what makes this group special."

Paul cut it to 4-3 at 14:50 with a wrist shot from the slot off a pass by Anthony Duclair.

Tkachuk scored an empty-net goal at 19:28 for the 5-3 final.

"It's tough when you get in situations like this ... what you're going to say right at this moment," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "But the talk was 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. So, we’ll see who shows up tomorrow."

NOTES: Stamkos became the ninth player in NHL history age 34 or older to score in each of his team’s first three playoff games.