Lightning topple Panthers to grab 3-0 lead in series
Lightning 5, Panthers 1: Steven Stamkos scored two goals and Nikita Kucherov had a goal and three assists, and host Tampa Bay beat Florida to move to the brink of another trip to the Eastern Conference final on Sunday.
Corey Perry and Erik Cernak also scored, and reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner Andrei Vasilevskiy had 34 saves to help the twotime defending Stanley Cup champions take a commanding 3-0 series lead over the Panthers, who had the NHL’s best record during the regular season.
Game 4 is Monday night at Amalie Arena, where the Lightning have won three of four games this postseason. One more victory will send them to the Eastern Conference final for the sixth time in eight years.
Vasilevskiy allowed just one goal for the fourth straight game after allowing at least three in each of Tampa Bay’s first six games this postseason. He’s been helped in that dominating stretch, as his teammates in front of him have helped by playing excellent team defense.
Sam Reinhart scored Florida’s lone goal in Game 3, snapping a puzzling 0-for-25 start to the playoffs for the Panthers’ power play.
Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 31 of 34 shots, with Perry and Cernak both scoring only moments after Florida killed off penalties in the first and second periods. Stamkos’ one-timer off a pass from Kucherov made it 3-1 midway through the second.
Kucherov and Stamkos added empty-net goals in the final four minutes after the Panthers removed Bobrovsky in favor of an extra attacker.
Rangers 3, Hurricanes 1: Mika Zibanejad had a goal and an assist, Igor Shesterkin stopped 43 shots, and host New York beat Carolina in Game 3 of their second-round playoff series.
Chris Kreider and Tyler Motte also scored as the Rangers cut their deficit to 2-1 in the best-of-seven matchup. Game 4 is Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
It was just the Rangers’ second win against Carolina in the teams’ last 10 meetings, dating to the qualifying round of the 2020 playoffs in the bubble in Toronto. The Hurricanes swept that series in three games and won three of four in the regular season.
Nino Niederreiter scored for Carolina, and Antti Raanta finished with 30 saves. The Hurricanes dropped to 0-4 on the road this postseason to go along with their 6-0 home mark.
Shesterkin had 17 saves in the first period, 17 in the second and nine in the third.