Bennett has two points in debut for Panthers in win against Lightning

TAMPA -- Sam Bennett had two assists in his Florida Panthers debut, a 5-3 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on Saturday.

Brandon Montour scored his first goal with the Panthers (28-12-5), who split the two-game set after losing 3-2 in overtime Thursday. Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves in his first start since April 10.
"That was a lot of fun," said Bennett, who was acquired in a trade with the Calgary Flames on Monday. "We've got a really good team here and a great group of guys. It feels good to get a win in my first game."
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 saves for the Lightning (29-13-2), who lost at home for the first time this season (14-1-0). Victor Hedman had two assists to give him 401 in the NHL.
Florida went 2-3-1 on a six-game road trip after losing the first three.
"We're happy to go home. It's been a long trip," Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said.
The Panthers moved into second place in the eight-team Discover Central Division, one point behind the Carolina Hurricanes and one point ahead of the Lightning. The top four teams qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"You just can't step away from your structure and the things you need to do," Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak said. "We were much better in the [defensive zone] and we were doing the right things in our zone. We just have to continue to keep doing that."
Montour gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 8:41 of the first period in his second game after being acquired in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres on April 10.
"He moves well, he moves with the puck, I like him," Florida defenseman Markus Nutivaara said. "He's going to keep getting better too."

Patric Hornqvist made it 2-0 on the power play at 12:31 on a follow-up off his initial shot.
Brayden Point cut the lead to 2-1 at 13:40 with a redirection off a shot from Alex Barré-Boulet, who got his first NHL point.
Jonathan Huberdeau pushed the lead to 3-1 at 19:52 when he scored off a rebound.
"We turned it over, and like a lot of times when pucks end up in the net when you turn it over bad things can happen," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "That was a tough one."
The line of Bennett, Huberdeau and Anthony Duclair combined for four points (two goals, two assists).
"I was so excited to play with those guys," Bennett said. "They're so talented, so skilled. I don't think I realized how good they are until I started playing with them and we started to build up a little chemistry. It was a lot of fun playing with them."

Frank Vatrano extended the lead to 4-1 at 17:34 of the second period when he scored on a breakaway.
Cernak brought the Lightning within 4-2 at 19:15 on a shot from the right face-off circle.
"I felt like I had a couple of chances before that goal," Cernak said. "I think that was great momentum, especially before going into the third period."
Mathieu Joseph made it 4-3 at 1:53 of the third period with a redirection of a shot from Hedman.
The Lightning continued to press for the tying goal. Point broke in at 15:42, but Bobrovsky made a pad save on the backhand shot.
"Huge save, game-winning save," Quenneville said. "Game is on the line, you've got the wrong guy and the puck is on his stick. He made a great move and 'Bob' had a great pad save. It was a huge save for us and you can feel it on the bench. I thought we played responsibly after that."
Duclair scored into an empty net at 19:10 for the 5-3 final.
"We had a lot of puck possession tonight, I just don't know how much we generated," Cooper said. "Did we take a step forward? I thought we played better tonight than we did the other night when we won. But it was tough because we just shot ourselves in the foot."
NOTES:Quenneville said Panthers forward Noel Acciari is day to day with an upper-body injury. … Hedman is the first Lightning defenseman to reach 400 assists and the fourth player overall (Martin St. Louis, 588; Vincent Lecavalier, 491, Steven Stamkos, 427). Hedman has 514 points (113 goals, 401 assists) in 806 NHL games in 12 seasons with Tampa Bay. … Lightning defenseman David Savard played his 600th NHL game. …. … Point had a goal and an assist and has 299 NHL points. … Nikita Gusev had an assist for his first point with the Panthers in his second game. He signed a one-year contract Sunday after being placed on waivers by the New Jersey Devils. … Florida defenseman Radko Gudas had an assist, his 100th in the NHL in his 523rd NHL game.