Monday, 3 a.m.
Next time, maybe the Tampa Bay Lightning should decline the penalty.
The Florida Panthers, outnumbered and on the road, scored two short-handed goals in 42 seconds of the second period Saturday evening to highlight a 4-2 victory. Playing a man down is usually a disadvantage in hockey, but the Panthers seemed to relish the situation.
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A.J. Greer scored off a turnover to break a 1-1 tie, and less than a minute later, Eetu Luostarinen did the same, from turnover to goal.
“I’ve coached 900-plus games in this league,’ Lightning coach Jon Cooper said “I don't remember giving up two shorties on one power play. Maybe I have. I don’t remember it. This game is full of momentum. When you score two shorties in one power play, which team do you think is going to get the momentum? I don’t care who you are. If you say ‘We’re going to give up two short-handed goals on one power play, and we’re going to get the momentum?’ That’s not the way it works.”
Sam Reinhart scored the game’s first goal, on a power play, and the last, into an empty net,
The Bolts got goals from Nick Paul, with 4.7 seconds left in the first period, and Brayden Point, who scored his 22nd goal.
Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped only 21 of 24 shots.
Tampa Bay plays Florida again tonight in Sunrise, home of the Panthers. The puck is dropped at 7 p.m.