Knight helps Panthers avoid elimination with Game 5 win against Lightning
Rookie makes 36 saves in playoff debut; Weegar, Hornqvist each has goal, assist for Florida
By
Alain Poupart
NHL.com Independent Correspondent
"For me, I just approached it like I did every other hockey game, like my first game, second game here, whatever it may be, it was all pretty much the same," Knight said. "I was a little nervous, but I remembered just to play hockey. I controlled what I can and just had fun."
Game 6 of the best-of-7 series is at Tampa Bay on Wednesday.
MacKenzie Weegar and Patric Hornqvist each had a goal and an assist, and Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau each had two assists for the Panthers, the No. 2 seed in the Discover Central Division.
"It was awesome," Barkov said. "Awesome atmosphere. Awesome feeling. We were excited to play, and a good result too. We're excited to go to Tampa right now."
Ross Colton scored, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 34 saves for the No. 3-seeded Lightning.
"That's a really good hockey team over there," Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos said. "They weren't going to just roll over and die. It's two really good hockey teams going at it. We knew it was going to be a tough series from the beginning. We put ourselves in a good position to go home for Game 6 and try to win a series. There's no point in dwelling on the past now. We have a 3-2 series lead. We weren't able to close it out tonight and we'll expect a better effort from our group next game."
Knight, who turned 20 on April 19, made 21 saves in the first period after the Lightning scored on their first shot of the game.
Colton gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead 53 seconds into the first period after Blake Coleman skated around Florida defenseman Keith Yandle at center ice and made a centering pass on a 2-on-1.
"We came into the room thinking, 'Boy, are we lucky," Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said. "Spencer put on a clinic and gave us a chance. That was our worst period in a long time. Too stationary, and Tampa was ready. They wanted to get this thing done. I thought we hung in there, big saves, big saves, and in the second we started coming. The goals got us going. I thought we had a real good response in the third period, but you don't have to say any more. The goalie won us the game."
Weegar tied it 1-1 at 6:19 of the second period with a wrist shot off a face-off, scoring high on the glove side with teammate Owen Tippett and Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh screening Vasilevskiy.
Mason Marchment gave Florida a 2-1 lead at 16:55 with a one-timer in the slot off a feed from Barkov from behind the net.
"They came out in the second and it was OK, but you could see they had a desperation level," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "They're down a goal and on the brink, so they elevated, and we didn't. … They did a good job. They fed off the crowd and they played D. We had a couple of good looks, didn't go in. But if we're going to win, if you're going to win a playoff series, it can't be on and off. We've got to be on our game for the entire game. Our second wasn't our best and we paid for it."
Hornqvist increased the lead to 3-1 at 35 seconds of the third period with a power-play goal when Barkov's one-timer went off him after he had been knocked down in front of the net.
Frank Vatrano scored into an empty net with 15 seconds left for the 4-1 final.
"We've played enough against them," Barkov said. "We know how they play. We know who is on the ice. We know how to play against them. We just have to do it all the time. Obviously today was a good game. We've got to build on this, go to Tampa and keep getting better."
NOTES: Knight (20 years, 35 days) is the second-youngest goalie in NHL history to win his playoff debut (Don Beaupre, 19 years, 202 days, Minnesota North Stars, 1981), and the youngest goalie since Tom Barrasso (20 years, 14 days, Buffalo Sabres, in 1985) to win a playoff game with his team facing elimination. … Huberdeau's second assist was the 12th in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in his career to pass Robert Svehla for most in Florida history. … Huberdeau's 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in the series are a Panthers record. He had been tied with Reilly Smith (2016 Eastern Conference First Round) and Ray Sheppard (1996 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals). … It was Florida's first home playoff victory since April 15, 2016, 3-1 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference First Round against the New York Islanders. … Yandle was minus-1 with one shot on goal in 9:03 after being scratched the previous two games. … Tampa Bay used 11 forwards and seven defensemen for the second consecutive game and the third time in the series.
