Point's go-ahead goal lifts Lightning to win against Panthers

Brayden Point scored the first of three unanswered goals in the third period for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 4-1 win against the Florida Panthers at Amalie Arena in Tampa on Saturday.

"Tonight, I think we just stuck with our game plan and we started shooting the puck," Point said. "You know, I think also what we did, too, is we limited Florida's chances. They're a really fast team, they create [odd-man situations]. I think we did a good job protecting the middle of the ice and then in turn created chances for us."

Steven Stamkos scored his 496th NHL goal to extend his point streak to 13 games for the Lightning (17-9-1), who have won four of five. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves.
Zac Dalpe scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 34 saves for the Panthers (13-11-4).
"I didn't think we moved the puck, managed the puck or moved our feet particularly well tonight," Florida coach Paul Maurice said. "We were trying to play a game slower than the game demanded itself to be played."
Point gave Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead at 3:03 of the third, scoring short side on Bobrovsky after receiving a pass from Nikita Kucherov in the slot.
Mikhail Sergachev made it 3-1 at 7:22 when he shot into an open net after Bobrovsky was knocked down by Lightning forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. Maurice challenged the play for goaltender interference, but the call stood after it was determined that Aaron Ekblad pushed Bellemare into Bobrovsky.
Stamkos extended the lead to 4-1 at 16:45 on a breakaway. He has 20 points (eight goals, 12 assists) during his point streak.
"We've had that for the past few years, where if we're in a hockey game, whether it's tied or up one or down one, that we realistically believe that we can win," Stamkos said. "In the third period, we knew if we could stay 5-on-5, I liked our game. [Vasilevskiy] made the big saves when he had to, and we capitalized on our chances."

Pat Maroon scored his first of the season to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 8:40 of the first period. He shot blocker side from near the right hash marks after Anthony Cirelli won a battle along the boards.
"It was coming for him," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "It was just going to be when, because he's been getting a ton of chances."
Dalpe tied it 1-1 at 6:02 of the second period when his shot from a sharp angle along the right boards deflected in off the left leg of Sergachev.
It was Dalpe's second goal in three games since being recalled from Charlotte of the American Hockey League.
"It feels good, but obviously you're here to win," Dalpe said.
The Panthers had plenty of opportunities to take the lead entering the third period, but they went 0-for-4 on the power play in the second.
"In maybe two of those power plays we had really some good chances," Florida captain Aleksander Barkov said. "We had some shots, we had some looks. Maybe two of them didn't go that well and we didn't get the puck in their zone. We had our chances there, but of course that's not good enough. You've got to score at least one."
NOTES: Panthers center Anton Lundell missed his second straight game because of a non-COVID illness. … Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk had his four-game point streak end. ... Florida defenseman Brandon Montour played his 400th NHL game.