5 TAKEAWAYS: Knight, Lundell Shine Bright as Panthers Defeat Lightning

Joel Quenneville believes the kids are more than just alright.
Led by a pair of up-and-coming stars that can't even legally buy a drink yet in South Florida, Anton Lundell scored his first NHL goal and Spencer Knight stopped 30 of 31 shots to lift the Panthers to a 4-1 win over the cross-state rival Lightning at Amalie Arena on Tuesday night.

"I thought the two kids were special tonight," the Panthers head coach said.
With the win, Florida improved to 3-0-0 out of the gate, while Tampa Bay fell to 2-2-0.
"They're great," Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said of Lundell and Knight, who are still both only 20. "They're special, special players. We're lucky to have those guys on our team."
Although the first period came and went without any goals, that doesn't mean it lacked drama. There were big hits, key saves and more than a few oh-so-close opportunities for both teams, but in the end neither was able to break through during a back-and-forth opening 20 minutes.
For the Cats, the key moment of the period came when they had to kill off more than a minute of a 5-on-3 power play. Coming together to get the job done, they did just that. In addition to some crucial clears and selfless blocks, Knight held his ground between the pipes, including denying one of Steven Stamkos' patented -- and usually lethal -- one-timers from within the left circle.
"A huge kill," Quenneville said. "The goalie was key, and he was big."
In the second period, the Panthers finally got on the board on the power play when, following a clutch faceoff win from Lundell in the offensive zone, Brandon Montour skated toward the center of the right circle and sniped a wrist shot straight over Andrei Vasilevskiy's glove to make it a 1-0 game at 6:12.
With both goaltenders making highlight-reel saves, Vasilevskiy's biggest of the night came early in the third period when he got his blocker on what looked like was going to be a surefire score from Kevin Connauton in the slot. Gaining some momentum from that save, Brayden Point then pulled the Bolts even soon after when he threaded a shot through traffic to make it a 1-1 at 2:36.
That lead, however, would be very, very short-lived.
Putting the Panthers back on top just over a minute later, Carter Verhaeghe, despite being surrounded by four defenders, created some chaos right around Tampa Bay's crease before Barkov scored from the doorstep at 3:40 to break to brief deadlock and make it a 2-1 contest.
"They tied the game up, but we scored right away so it felt like we never lost the lead," Barkov said of the sequence. "We played pretty well with the lead. I know they got their chances, but our PK, our defense, our goalie, Knighter, played outstanding. That's why we won the game."
Having already tallied his first NHL point, Lundell added another milestone puck to his mantle when he collected a pass from Sam Reinhart, who got the puck after a great play from Mason Marchment along the boards, and blasted a shot past Vasilevskiy to up the lead to 3-1 at 13:19.
Scoring for the third straight game, Anthony Duclair then locked in the 4-1 win with an empty-net goal at 17:14.
"Today was a really, really good day," Lundell said, grinning ear to ear. "A huge win for us. Of course, for my himself it was pretty fun to get my first point, first assist and first goal in the same game. I don't want to worry about it anymore, so it gives me motivation for the coming games."

Excited but not satisfied, the Cats will now head back to Sunrise to host the Avalanche on Thursday.
"I think overall we played a pretty good game," Barkov said. "I'm really happy with that, but it's over and we need to recover and get back at it on Thursday."
Here are five takeaways from Tuesday's win in Tampa…

1. GUDAS AND THE PK

If not for this play by Radko Gudas, this game could've gone differently.
After Knight stopped Corey Perry right on the top of the crease less than two minutes into the first period, Gudas, who was standing outside the blue paint, pounced on the ensuing rebound as it slid toward the goal line and pulled it out of harm's way to keep the Lighting off the board.
Phew.
Throughout the game, Gudas was also part of Florida's exceptional penalty kill.
Although they owned one of the top power plays in the league last season, the Lightning went 0-for-6 with the man advantage tonight. Gudas was one of six players that racked up at least four shorthanded minutes while helping get the job done throughout the contest, joining MacKenzie Weegar (5:37), Gustav Forsling (4:32), Aaron Ekblad (6:35), Barkov (4:15) and Lundell (4:15).
Limiting Tampa Bay to just nine shots on the power play, Knight stopped all of them.
"We did a great job," Lundell said of the battle on special teams. "We had a huge 5-on-3 PK in the first period. That was a good start for us and gave us energy for the rest of the game."

2. MONTOUR MAKES IT HAPPEN

The Panthers turned to their power play to open the scoring tonight.
Following a faceoff win from Lundell, Reinhart shipped the puck over to Montour, who then skated into the center of the right circle and wired home a shot into the net to put the Panthers on top 1-0 just as their man advantage was about to expire at 6:12 of the second period.
The goal was initially ruled as being scored at even-strength, but later changed to a power play tally.

"I think all the boys were excited," Montour said. "We thought it was a power play goal."
His first goal of the season, Montour has been chipping in consistently on the offensive side of the puck ever since he arrived to South Florida form Buffalo at last year's trade deadline. In 15 games since the move, the 27-year-old blueliner has tallied five points (three goals, two assists).

3. LUNDELL'S SOUVENIRS

Lundell will be heading back to Sunrise with a couple of souvenirs.
With the secondary assist on Montour's goal, the 20-year-old rookie earned the first point of his budding NHL career. Needing only three games to get on the scoresheet, his first point in the big leagues came as a result of hard work in the faceoff circle, where he went 10-for-18 tonight.
"Lundy has been outstanding," Barkov said. "He scored his first goal and first point today, but he's been outstanding so far. I can't see him slowing down. He's a really good kid. He's working really hard. He's staying late after the games. He's first at the rink. That's great to see from him."

Getting another milestone out of the way in the third period, Lundell took a feed from Reinhart and beat Vasilevskiy -- not bad for your first goal, eh? -- with a one-timer to make it a 3-1 game.
"Obviously, the goal was special," Quenneville said. "Defensively, he's also got great instincts. Even shorthanded he was generating some chances as well. That line had some zone time."
In addition to his goal, Lundell also posted three blocked shots, one hit and a +3 rating.

4. BARKOV TAKES THE LEAD

It's hard to beat Vasilevskiy on just one shot, so why not take a few at once?
After having his initial backhand shot from on top of the crease denied by the former Vezina Trophy winner, Verhaeghe slid the puck over to Barkov for a tap-in goal on the doorstep to give the Panthers a 2-1 lead just over a minute after Point had tied the game early in the third period.
"I had two empty-net chances in five seconds, so maybe I should bury one," Barkov smiled.

Opening up the season on a three-game point streak, Barkov notched a goal and an assist against the Lightning to increase his team-leading point total to five (two goals, three assists).
"He did some amazing things," Quenneville said of Barkov. "I like his anticipation for the game."
Per NaturalStatTrick.com, the Cats also led 8-5 in scoring chances when he was deployed at 5-on-5.

5. WHAT A KNIGHT

Knight can't seem to take the ice without making a bit of history.
After going 4-0-0 last season, the upstart rookie became just the 11th goaltender in NHL history to win at least each of his first five starts after turning aside 30 of 31 shots against the Lightning.
"I was ready to start the season," Knight said of his strong 2021-22 debut. "It was fun."
With more than a few huge saves to pick from, one in particular that stood out was when Knight came out of his crease to challenge and deny Stamkos on a breakaway in the second period. Per NaturalStatTrick.com, he went a perfect 8-for-8 on high-danger chances he faced.

"I enjoy playing against the best and being challenged," Knight said. "Anyone can make routine saves, but you have to try to face the tough stuff and that's what I try to do. That's why I play goalie."
After going 1-1-0 with a .933 save percentage in two starts against Tampa Bay in the playoffs last season, Knight certainly relishes the opportunity to play against the NHL's top-tier teams.
"They won the Cup in back-to-back seasons for a reason," Knight said of the Bolts. "They're a great organization with a lot of good players. It's always fun to play against the best guys."