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SUNRISE, Fla. – The Florida Panthers are moving on.

Securing a gentleman’s sweep of their cross-state rival, the Panthers punched their ticket to Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a massive 6-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday.

“To be a part of this team and hear the crowd, this is a big series for us,” Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk said. “We always knew that for us to ultimately win it all it’s probably going to have to go through Tampa at some point. Just an amazing feeling closing it out.”

In Round 2, the Panthers will face the winner of the first-round series between the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs. The Bruins currently hold a commanding 3-1 lead in the series and can secure a rematch with the Panthers in Round 2 with a win in Game 5 on Tuesday.

During their run to last year’s Stanley Cup Final, the Panthers upset the Bruins in Round 1.

“We’re probably going to be playing our next-biggest rival [next round], so there will not be an emotional letdown,” Tkachuk said when asked about preparing for the next challenge.

Before we look ahead to Round 2, let’s first take one last look back at Round 1.

Continue below to find some key numbers that helped the Panthers finally take down Tampa Bay.

0: The number of even-strength goals scored when Kevin Stenlund was on the ice against the Lightning. Among the players that suited up in all five games in Round 1 for the Panthers, Stenlund was the only player to escape unscathed over 49:12 of ice time.

1.3: Goals saved above expected for Sergei Bobrovsky. Capping off the series with a 31-save performance in Game 5, the Vezina Trophy finalist, at the time of this writing, is sixth among all goalies in the playoffs in goals saved above expected. Cue the “Bob-by!” chants.

2: The number of goals scored by the Lightning when Aaron Ekblad and Gustav Forsling were deployed at 5-on-5. Florida’s top pair was up to the task in Round 1 as the Lightning managed to only strike twice over 78:33 of ice time at 5-on-5 against them in the series.

3: The number of consecutive trips to Round 2 of the playoffs for the Panthers. As Florence and the Machine once sang, “the dog days are over!” No longer worried about lottery balls, the Panthers are now a perennial contender. The best news? Their window is just opening.

4: The number of games the Panthers won when scoring first. The team that broke the ice won every game during Round 1. The only time the Lightning managed to open the scoring was during their sudden three-goal outburst in the first period of Game 4 at Amalie Arena.

Verhaeghe puts in own rebound to make it 1-0.

5: The number of players with at least 20 hits for the Panthers in Round 1. With bodies being thrown all over the ice, Oliver Ekman-Larsson (20), Sam Reinhart (20), Niko Mikkola (20), Aaron Ekblad (24) and Evan Rodrigues (24) all saw their hit totals skyrocket against the Lightning. Ekman-Larsson and Mikkola each also recorded a nine-hit game in the series.

9: The number of points Carter Verhaeghe and Matthew Tkachuk each tallied against the Lightning. The top-two scorers from last year’s run to the Stanley Cup Final picked up right where they left on Round 1. Tied atop the team's scoring leaderboard, both players made a dent on the scoresheet in all five games in the series, combining for seven multi-point showings.

12: The number of blocked shots for Brandon Montour. We all know what No. 62 do with the puck on the stick, but he also showed an exceptional ability to get in front of the puck in the defensive zone against the Lightning. Leading the Panthers in blocked shots throughout the series, he recorded at least one block in all five games and multiple blocks in four games.

17.52: The number of miles Brandon Montour skated against the Lightning. In the 99th percentile among skaters in the playoffs, those 17.52 miles he accumulated in the series are nearly double the league average of 9.94. As Paul Maurice would say, “That’s a fit man.”

18: The number of Panthers to record at least one point against the Lightning. Say it with me … depth! Nearly every player that took the ice during the series got in on the action for the Panthers, including 15 different players that registered multiple points in Round 1.

Lorentz's goal extends Florida's lead to 4-2.

20: Trips to the power play for the Lightning. At the time of this writing, no team in the NHL received more opportunities with the extra attacker in Round 1 than Tampa Bay. Luckily, the penalty kill was up to the task for the Panthers. After entering the playoffs with the top-ranked power play in the NHL during the regular season (28.6%), the Lightning operated at just 20% in the series.

22.75: The miles per hour Evan Rodrigues peaked at during the series. Flying up and down the ice, that burst of speed places No. 17 in the top 96% of skaters in the playoffs thus far.

42: Aleksander Barkov’s career playoff points, which are a franchise record. With five points in Round 1, the captain increased his total with the Panthers to 42 points. Carter Verhaeghe is nipping at his heels with 41 points, including a franchise-record 20 playoff goals. Always dishing the biscuit, Barkov has also notched the most career playoff assists by a Panther with 29.

Barkov's second makes it 3-1 in the third.

56.4%: Kevin Stenlund’s faceoff win percentage. While his deke-and-dish to set up Evan Rodrigues’ third-period goal in Game 5 was certainly pretty, the big Swede’s most-valuable contribution in the series came in the faceoff dot. In addition to leading the team in overall win percentage, Stenlund also won a critical 60% of the draws he took on the penalty kill.

66.67%: Florida’s high-danger goals for percentage in Round 1. The area around the crease belonged to the Panthers against the Lightning. Over the course of the five-game series, the Panthers led 10-5 in goals scored from high-danger areas, with five of those goals coming at 5-on-5.

70.8%: The expected goals percentage for the line of Matthew Tkachuk, Anton Lundell and Carter Verhaeghe. Once Sam Bennett was sidelined by an injury in Game 2, Lundell stepped up to help this new-look trio remain dominant for the remainder of the series.

82: Combined number of high-danger saves for Sergei Bobrovsky and Andrei Vasilevskiy. There’s no question that both goalies gave it their all during the series. At the time of this writing, Bobrovsky ranks third in the playoffs with 34 high-danger saves, while Vasilevskiy is first with 48. For Bobrovsky, none were bigger than the now famous “Bobbery” in Game 2 in Sunrise.

Bobrovsky makes an acrobatic diving save.

.929: Sergei Bobrovsky’s save percentage at 5-on-5. With the Lightning doing most of their damage on the man advantage, Bobrovsky made sure to be on top of his game when both sides were even, giving up just seven goals over 235:46 of 5-on-5 time between the pipes.

58,590: The number of fans that rocked Amerant Bank Arena in Round 1. Sunrise is officially a hockey town. Thanks to three straight sellouts in Games 1, 2 and 4, the Panthers are currently averaging the highest attendance in the playoffs at 19,530 fans per game.

*Statistics courtesy of NaturalStatTrick.com, MoneyPuck.com and HockeyReference.com

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