Lightning strike first against Sunshine State rival Panthers
The Tampa Bay Light- ning 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' Trophywinning 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.”
AVALANCHE 3, BLUES 2, OT >> Josh Manson scored 8:02 into overtime, Darcy Kuemper made 23 saves in his return to the net from an eye injury, and Colorado overcame a sluggish start to beat St. Louis in Game 1 of their second-round series.
Manson sent a shot from near the blue line through a sea of players that went in just over the shoulder of Jordan Binnington.
Valeri Nichushkin and Samuel Girard also scored for an Avalanche team that had a weeklong layoff after sweeping Nashville. It showed early on, too, before they found their stride. They outshot the Blues by a 54-25 margin, including 13-0 in OT. The Avalanche also hit three posts and two crossbars.
Ryan O'Reilly had a firstperiod goal and Jordan Kyrou tied it late for St. Louis. Binnington kept the Blues close with one sprawling save after another. He stopped 51 shots. Game 2 is Thursday. Kyrou scored on the power play to tie the game with 3:14 remaining. The Blues have been potent on the power play, going 9 for 27 during the playoffs.
Girard staked Colorado a 2-1 lead midway through the second period on a shot that went through Binnington's pads. Defenseman Erik Johnson nearly had another moments earlier with a wide-open net, but couldn't get anything on his shot. Binnington reached out with his glove while on the ground to stop the rolling puck.
O'Reilly took advantage of a Cale Makar turnover to score early in the first period. O'Reilly has a goal in five straight playoff games, matching the longest playoff goal streak in Blues history. He tied the mark held by Phil Roberto (1972) and Joe Mullen (1982), according to NHL Stats.