Sunrise, Fla. – Before knocking down the door with two goals in 11 seconds, the Florida Panthers make a spectacular five-minute comeback.
Stanley Cup Champions went into Do-Or-Die mode just 19 seconds into the third season, trampling the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference first round at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday, following a boarding penalty by Niko Mikkola.
Lightning, a five-minute major, has found himself heading towards an expanded power play.
But as it had been for a while, Florida’s penalty kills were left to work.
He was taller throughout the kill, and they only allowed one shot in goal.
“It was huge,” forward Anton Landell said. “It actually got pretty fast. We did a good job killing penalties there, and we cried out loud to everyone (goalkeeper Sergei Bobrovsky) who were blocking the shot there, which was very important in that game.
A closer look at the penalty kills revealed that we couldn’t ask for more.
Soon, Nico Sturm won a defensive zone showdown and cleared the puck.
It will take 21 seconds before lightning can re-enter the attack zone.
With 4:18 left in the kill, Aaron Eckblad chased the loose puck, knocked up the ice and carried it out of the zone, and got the line changes the Panthers needed.
In Tampa Bay’s next entry, Dmitry Klikov, who slid into Miccola’s normal spot with Seth Jones in a penalty kill, quickly sent the pack back out of the zone.
The Panthers were limited to just 10 seconds in the attack zone following the next entry, as Lightning was not placed in the zone.
Soon after, Randell closed another shift in Tampa Bay with the second clear.
After a forecheck from Brad Merchand was a few more seconds away from the watch, Nikitak Chovrov took the pack back into the Florida zone, but stayed there a few seconds before Etuloustalinen bang it for yet another important clear.
With no stopping yet and nearly three minutes already killed, Victor Hedman recorded the filming he filmed on Tampa Bay’s first, only power play.
1:11 left a kill and Gustav blocked a shot from Kuchelov on his skate.
With 36 seconds left, Lundell was shot by Darren Raddysh and blocked him to set fire to the crowd.
Merchant then intercepted the neutral zone path and ate more time.
Finishing the power play, blew the roof out of the arena, Brayden points high-stick Luostarinen with 7 seconds left in the penalty kill and seven seconds left to get back the action, 4-4.
There was no stopping throughout 4:53 of the Power Play, so the lightning bolt had nothing to show that.
“A lot of people stepped up and did their job,” Jones said. Jones saw 3:19 of the ice time he looted in Game 4.
Solid is an understatement.
Jake Guentzel lit the ramp on a Lightning power play during the first period of Game 1, making the Panthers 14-14 on penalty kills.
As always, a good defense is ultimately rewarded with crime.
Following a five-minute kill in Game 4, the Panthers scored two goals within just 11 seconds of regulation, eventually moving on to 3-2 with a 4-2 victory.
Appropriately, two of the team’s top killers, Ekblad and Jones, scored back-to-back goals.
Returning to Tampa with a 3-1 series lead, the penalty kill remains important for the Panthers. Now they are about to eliminate rivals in the state and advance to Round 2.
Game 5 is scheduled to take place on Wednesday at 7:30pm at Amalie Arena.
“It started with a kill,” coach Paul Maurice said of his behind-the-scenes victory in Game 4.
