Lightning strike first against Panthers, win 4-1 in Game 1

SUNRISE, Fla. – The Tampa Bay Lightning won the first two games of their playoff series with the Florida Panthers on the road last year.

They’re halfway to a repeat performance.

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period, Andrei Vasilevskiy remained red-hot with 34 saves and the Lightning topped the Panthers 4-1 in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference semifinal series Tuesday night.

In Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper’s estimation, Vasilevskiy

was the story.

“Look at the saves he makes at the times we need them,” Cooper said. “To me, that’s what great goaltenders do and they give you a chance to win a hockey game and that’s what our guy did again tonight.”

Nikita Kucherov and Corey Perry each had a goal and an assist, and Ross Colton also scored for the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions, who went ahead 1-0 against their instate rivals for the second consecutive season.

Time and again, Vasilevskiy slammed the door on Florida. Over his last three games – all of them wins, including Game 7 at Toronto on Sunday – he’s stopped 94 of 99 shots.

“He brings 100 percent effort every single game and everybody’s just trying to take his energy and bring it to your game,” Kucherov said. “He’s a leader ... he’s our best player.”

Anthony Duclair had the goal for Presidents’ Trophy-winning Florida, which got 32 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky. Including the qualifying round that was held when the NHL restarted during the pandemic in 2020, Florida has lost seven consecutive Game 1s – a streak that goes back to 1997.

Game 2 is Thursday night.

“They are too good of a team, a veteran team, and they’re not going to open the door for you,’’ Florida interim coach Andrew Brunette said. “We had our opportunities. On to the next game.”

Duclair, a 31-goal scorer, was scratched by Florida for its series-clinching win at Washington, but he was back Tuesday and gave his team the lead by scoring on a pass from Jonathan Huberdeau at 14:01 of the first.

Duclair’s goal came after the Panthers killed off a pair of early penalties – one from MacKenzie Weegar and the other from Duclair – as special teams became a factor in the game.

Florida went 0 for 18 on the power play in the series win against the Capitals and was scoreless on three more tries Tuesday. But Tampa Bay cashed in three of its six chances.

The Lightning left no doubt late, with Kucherov and Colton each getting power-play tallies in the final 4:06 to put the game away.

Florida fell to 4-8 in Game 1s, including the qualifying round two years ago. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay improved to 15-19 in

Game 1s.