It felt like the Lightning were lucky to escape the first period down only a goal. The Panthers came out flying and grabbed the lead on Frank Vatrano's second goal of the season nine minutes into the game. A turnover behind the Lightning net began the play and Vatrano found space in front of Andrei Vasilevskiy to put home Owen Tippett's pass.
The floodgates opened for the Panthers in the second, as they built a three-goal lead through 40 minutes.
Alex Wennberg doubled Florida's advantage midway through the second period, converting on a 2-on-1 feed from Jonathan Huberdeau. Point quickly answered with a power play goal, splitting the Florida defense and slipping his shot past Sergei Bobrovsky to get Tampa Bay back within one. That momentum wouldn't last long, as Aaron Ekblad and Carter Verhaeghe scored in rapid succession to firmly put the Panthers in control.
Point added his second power play goal of the night early in the third period, roofing his shot past Bobrovsky from a tight angle. That would be as close as Tampa Bay would get, however, as Brett Connolly scored an empty net goal with one minute to play.
Zone time and scoring chances were hard to come by for the Lightning, who finished the night with only 21 shots on goal and failed to score a goal in 5-on-5 play.
The loss snaps Tampa Bay's six-game winning streak and pulls Florida within a point of the lead in the Central Division.
The Lightning and Panthers will become very familiar with one another over the next few days. Thursday marked the beginning of a stretch where the two teams play three times in a five-day span. They'll be back at the BB&T Center on Friday night.
Scoring Summary
1st Period
FLA | 8:56 Frank Vatrano (2) - Owen Tippett
2nd Period
FLA | 8:31 Alex Wennberg (3) - Jonathan Huberdeau, Patric Hornqvist
TBL | 10:55 Brayden Point (5) - Ondrej Palat - PPG
FLA | 12:54 Aaron Ekblad (4) - Keith Yandle, Aleksander Barkov
FLA | 14:55 Carter Verhaeghe (7) - Alex Wennberg, Aaron Ekblad
3rd Period
TBL | 0:54 Brayden Point (6) - Victor Hedman, Andrei Vasilevskiy - PPG
FLA | 19:00 Brett Connolly (1) - MacKenzie Weegar - EN
