5 TAKEAWAYS: Panthers 4, Lightning 1

The Battle of Florida lived up to its billing once again.
Securing a split of the season series, the Florida Panthers raced out to a 3-0 lead and never looked back in an eventual 4-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on Tuesday.
Improving to 30-26-6, Florida remains just three points out of a playoff spot.
"At the end of the day, there wouldn't be a guy or a piece to our game that I didn't like," Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. "Our goaltending was really good, in the second half especially."
For a quick recap of the game, click
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.
To read up on five key takeaways for the Cats, continue below.

1. STAAL SHINES BRIGHT

The more time you spend reviewing Eric Staal's game, the more impressive it gets.
In addition to netting the all-important first goal against the Lightning, the 38-year-old veteran was a force in the possession game. Per NaturalStatTrick.com, the Panthers led 22-4 in shot attempts, 13-1 in shots on goal and 13-1 in scoring chances when he was on the ice at 5-on-5.
Overall, the line of Staal, Ryan Lomberg and Nick Cousins controlled 88.89% of scoring chances.

"He built it," Maurice said of Staal's resurgence. "He took a year off, came into camp and has just worked his [butt] off every day. He's in far better game-shape. He wasn't out of shape, you just have to play the game. Then what he did was he built that line. He grabs those two guys and they start really defining how they're going to play. They don't try to play like the other lines."
Back in the NHL after watching from the sidelines in 2021-22, Staal has produced 22 points (12 goals, 10 assists) in 52 games during his first season with the Panthers. Finding ways to chip in on offense consistently, he's tallied eight points (five goals, three assists) in his last 12 games.
A key piece of the penalty kill, Staal logged a team-high 5:45 of shorthanded ice time in Tampa.
"It's not just the play, it's the smarts on the ice," Maurice said. "You've got Lomberg and Cousins, for me, playing the best hockey of their careers, and I think Eric Staal's the driver of that."

2. LUOSTY ON FIRE

Eetu Luostarinen is having a breakout stretch within a breakout season.
Like a dream within a dream, but with more sticks and pucks.
Finishing with a goal and an assist against the Lightning, Luostarinen has now cracked the scoresheet in eight of his last 10 games. Since that run began back on Feb. 6, the 24-year-old forward ranks second on the Panthers in scoring with 11 points (four goals, seven assists).
Centering Carter Verhaeghe and Anthony Duclair on the second line at Tampa Bay, Luostarinen also registered five shots on goal, three hits, three blocks and saw 4:59 of ice time on the penalty kill.

"He's got a real good balance there," Maurice said. "He's a penalty killer, but he can make some plays and he can skate. He's kind of the right mindset. You've got Verhaeghe and Duclair on that line. Both those guys are speedsters and they're certainly slanted toward the offensive side of the game, so you need someone in the middle that will do some of the heavy lifting down low."
Leading the Panthers in plus/minus (+18) and takeaways (41) this season, Luostarinen has also already set career-highs in goals (14), assists (19) and points (33) with 20 games remaining to add to those totals.
"I was super impressed with him out of the gate," forward Matthew Tkachuk said. "I really didn't know a ton about him coming into this year, and I've been very, very impressed with everything he does. He's kind of like Barky in a sense where there's not one thing he doesn't do out there."

3. LUNDY LIGHTS THE LAMP

With Aleksander Barkov and Sam Bennett both out with injuries, Anton Lundell stepped up.
Holding things down in between Tkachuk and Sam Reinart on the top line, the 21-year-old forward doubled the lead in the first period when he won a foot race to a loose puck in the offensive zone before cutting toward the net and beating Andrei Vasilevskiy to put the Panthers up 2-0.
Over 18:45 of ice time, he also notched one hit and three shot attempts.

"I think all the guys were ready to step up," Lundell said. "We know those are two big players in our lineup, but it means it's an opportunity for somebody else. We need to win games even if we don't have them. I'm really happy about the team's performance today."
Sitting on 28 points (nine goals, 19 assists) through 53 games this season, Lundell also had a strong night in the possession game against the Lightning. Over the 12:06 that he was deployed at 5-on-5, Tampa Bay's potent offense mustered just two shots on goal and eight shot attempts.
In seven career games against the Lightning, Lundell has scored three goals.

4. BOB STANDS ALONE

After standing on his head, Sergei Bobrovsky now stands alone on one leaderboard in particular.
With his 28-save performance against the Lightning, the 34-year-old picked up the 354th win of his career, which stands as most ever by a Russian-born goaltender in the history of the NHL.
"It takes lots of work by my teammates," Bobrovsky said. "I thank God for that."
Securing his record-setting win, Bobrovsky stopped all 18 shots he faced in the third period.
"At the end of the game when Chucky gave him the puck, everyone was really excited for him and really happy," defenseman Radko Gudas said. "He earned it to be in this position and he's one of the best goalies in the league for a reason. It's fun to play in front of him."
Owning an 18-16-2 record on the season, Bobrovsky has been in the zone for quite a while now. Going all the way back to Dec. 13, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner has posted a 13-8-1 record with a .917 save percentage and one shutout.
Facing a tough test in Tampa, he turned aside 12 of the 13 high-danger shots he faced.
"It's just one shot at a time," Bobrovsky said. "We know how dangerous they are on the power play and on the offensive side of the game. It takes all of us. We're all on the same page and we beat a really good team."

5. MORE THAN OK ON THE PK

After getting into some penalty trouble, the Panthers came up clutch on the PK.
Doing a fantastic job of stifling Tampa Bay's second-ranked power play (25.6%), the Panthers went 4-for-5 on the penalty kill while allowing just six shots on goal and four scoring chances.
Part of the reason for that success was the willingness from players to put their bodies on the line. Racking up 22 blocked shots as a team in the win, Gudas led the charge with seven blocks.
"It's part of the game that's important," said Gudas, whose seven blocks matched his career-high. "We had a lot of them last game. Everybody was laying the body on the line. From the forwards to the D, we all took part in doing that. It worked out. Their power play is very dangerous."
Of those successful penalty kills, three came in the third period.
"They have a really good power plays we all know," Lundell said. "They're going to get some chances, so we just needed to support each other. Bobby had a couple huge saves again."