Florida Panthers Tampa Bay Lightning

Florida Panthers Lose to Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1 of Eastern Conference Finals

Panthers Fall 4-1 in Series Opener

Lightning Extend Playoff Winning Streak to 9 Games

The Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Florida Panthers 4-1 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Tuesday night at Amalie Arena. The Lightning extended their playoff winning streak to nine games, while the Panthers' five-game winning streak came to an end. Brayden Point scored twice for the Lightning, and Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat each added a goal. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 33 saves for the win. Aleksander Barkov scored the lone goal for the Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky made 22 saves in the loss. The Lightning took a 1-0 lead just 2:04 into the game when Point scored on a one-timer from the slot. The Panthers tied the game at 1-1 at 12:29 of the first period when Barkov scored on a power play. The Lightning regained the lead at 16:19 of the second period when Kucherov scored on a breakaway. Palat made it 3-1 at 18:29 of the second period when he scored on a rebound. Point sealed the win for the Lightning with an empty-net goal at 19:22 of the third period. The two teams will meet again in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Thursday night at Amalie Arena.