TAMPA, Fla. — The Lightning went into the third period Saturday as they have many times this season, trying to pull a win out of a tied game.
Against the cross-state rival Panthers, the Lightning spent the second period marching in and out of the penalty box, which kept their top scoring threats on the bench as their penalty kill unit logged nearly eight minutes of ice time in the period.
But once the Lightning were able to stay out of the box, they pulled out a victory in even strength. Brayden Point scored the go-ahead goal 3:03 into the period and Mikhail Sergachev provided a two-goal cushion at the 7:22 mark, giving the Lightning a 4-1 win at Amalie Arena.
Steven Stamkos extended his point streak to 13 games with a late third-period goal, putting him just four goals shy of 500 for his career.
The Lightning (17-9-1) earned their 10th win in the past 13 games. It also marked their 10th win this season when tied or trailing after two periods.
Point scored his fourth goal in his last three games when Nikita Kucherov found Point skating through the slot.
Sergachev had an open shot from the left point, his wrister finding the back of the net when Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky’s stick was caught under Lightning center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare in front of the paint.
The Panthers challenged the call, arguing goalie interference, but video review saw that Bellemare was pushed down by Florida defenseman Aaron Ekblad. The Lightning were able to survive a barrage of shot attempts directed at their own net in the opening minutes and did not allow a goal.
Andrei Vasilevskiy, who had 24 saves on the night, fought off 10 Panthers shot attempts in the first 2:14 of the game.
Lightning forward Pat Maroon, who has been playing some of his best hockey since moving to a line centered by Anthony Cirelli, scored his first goal of the season in Game 27, giving the Lightning a 1-0 lead 8:40 into the game.
Cirelli took the puck off the wall near the right corner and fed Maroon, who had found open ice along the right circle, and his wrister beat Bobrovsky far post along his blocker side.
