By Canadian Press

NHL playoffs: Lightning beat Panthers 5-1 to cut series deficit to 2-1

Apr 26, 2025 | 11:34 PM

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 33 shots and the Tampa Bay Lightning came back to beat the Florida Panthers 5-1 Saturday to cut their deficit in the NHL’s first-round, best-of-seven playoff series to 2-1.

Tampa Bay’s offence came alive, with goals from Jake Guentzel, Brayden Point, Nick Paul and Luke Glendening. Anthony Cirelli added an empty-netter with five minutes left, and Nikita Kucherov had three assists.

The Lightning will try to even things up in Game 4 on Monday at Sunrise. The Panthers, however, are 5-0 after taking a 2-0 lead in a playoff series.

Paul gave the Lightning their first lead of the series when he slipped a shot just inside the pad of Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky in the second period. Guentzel made it a two-goal lead just 21 seconds into the third before the Lightning pulled away later in the period.

Matthew Tkachuk scored for the Panthers, his third of the series. Bobrovsky finished with 17 saves.

Vasilevskiy had given up seven goals in the first two games but was huge on Saturday. He bounced back from an early Panthers punch and withstood a flurry of Florida shots in the second and third.

Tkachuk, who scored twice in the opener, got on the board 2:43 into the game when he tapped a feed from Sam Bennett past Vasilevskiy, giving the star his 20th playoff goal with the Panthers.

The Lightning responded when Guentzel’s shot bounced off Point and past Bobrovsky later in the first to give the NHL’s highest-scoring team in the regular season its first goal in nearly five periods.

Elsewhere in the NHL playoffs on Saturday:

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GOLDEN KNIGHTS 4 WILD 3 (OT)

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Ivan Barbashev scored at 17:26 of overtime and Vegas beat Minnesota 4-3 in Game 4 to even their first-round playoff series.

Nicolas Roy and Tomas Hertl each had a goal and assist, and Shea Theodore also scored for the Pacific Division champion Golden Knights. Adin Hill made 29 saves.

Marco Rossi, Marcus Foligno and Jared Spurgeon scored for Minnesota. Filip Gustavsson made 42 saves, including a pair of sprawling left pad saves off of Reilly Smith’s attempts with 3:49 left in regulation.

Game 5 is in Vegas on Tuesday, with Game 6 on Thursday back in Minnesota.

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SENATORS 4 MAPLE LEAFS 3 (OT)

OTTAWA, Ont. (AP) — Defenceman Jake Sanderson scored on a long wrist shot from the left boards at 17:42 of overtime and Ottawa beat Toronto 4-3 to force a fifth game in the first-round series.

Sanderson kept the puck in at the blue line and fired the wrist shot that sailed through traffic and past goalie Anthony Stolarz into the top, right corner.

The teams needed extra time for the third straight game, with Ottawa finally breaking though after 3-2 overtime losses in Games 2 and 3. Toronto missed a chance for its first sweep since beating Ottawa in the 2001 first round.

Game 5 is Tuesday night in Toronto.

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AVALANCHE 4 STARS 0

DENVER (AP) — Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog scored his first NHL goal in nearly three years, Logan O’Connor had a short-handed tally, and the Avalanche beat Dallas 4-0 in Game 4 to even their first-round series.

Nathan MacKinnon added a power-play goal, Samuel Girard also scored and Brock Nelson had two assists for the Avalanche. Mackenzie Blackwood made 23 saves for his first post-season shutout.

The series moves back to Dallas for Game 5 on Monday.

The Associated Press