Florida 4, Tampa Bay 3
When: 5:00 PM ET, Sunday, March 1, 2015
Where: BB&T Center, Sunrise, Florida
Referees:
Francois St. Laurent, Brad Meier
Linesmen:
Steve Barton, Brian Murphy
Attendance:
10336
By SportsDirect Inc.
Panthers 4, Lightning 3: Jaromir Jagr scored his 717th career goal to tie Phil Esposito for fifth place on the NHL’s all-time scoring list as Florida held off a late rally from visiting Tampa Bay.
Brad Boyes also recorded his 200th career goal while Aleksander Barkov and rookie defenseman Aaron Ekblad also tallied for the Panthers, who led 4-1 early in the third period. Jonathan Huberdeau contributed three assists, Jagr had one and Al Montoya made 20 saves as Florida moved within two points of idle Boston for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Defenseman Anton Stralman scored one goal and set up another while captain Steven Stamkos notched his team-leading 35th tally and Tyler Johnson cut the deficit to 4-3 with 2:44 left off a pass from Nikita Kucherov. Ben Bishop saw his four-game winning streak end after turning aside 22 shots, losing for the first time in six career decisions against the Panthers.
Barkov dove into the crease to tip in a rebound 5:31 into the second period to give Florida a 2-1 lead and Boyes threw the puck in off Bishop from below the goal line 17 minutes into the session. Ekblad’s shot went in off Tampa Bay defenseman Jason Garrison for a power play goal 4:18 into the third before Stamkos scored with 11:29 to go to start the rally.
Jagr steamed down the slot and knocked home a loose puck 10:24 into the contest to open the scoring after Huberdeau’s shot was blocked. The Lightning tied it 1:44 later as rookie Jonathan Drouin spun and dropped the puck for Stralman, who whipped a shot over Montoya’s left shoulder from the left circle.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Ekblad’s 10th goal tied him with Ed Jovanovski (1995-96) for the most by a rookie defenseman in franchise history. … Montoya denied Johnson on a penalty shot 5:09 into the second period. … The Panthers improved to 11-3-4 against Atlantic Division opponents and Tampa Bay fell to 11-3-2. … Florida RW Tomas Kopecky replaced LW Shawn Thornton in the lineup.
Top Game Performances
Tampa Bay |
|
Florida |
Anton Stralman 2 |
Points |
Jonathan Huberdeau 3 |
Anton Stralman 1 |
Goals |
Jaromir Jagr 1 |
Anton Stralman 1 |
Assists |
Jonathan Huberdeau 3 |
N/A |
Power Play Goals |
Aaron Ekblad 1 |
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
Ben Bishop .846 |
Save Percentage |
Al Montoya .870 |
Ben Bishop 22 |
Saves |
Al Montoya 20 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
Tampa Bay
|
23 |
3 |
0-2 |
4-5 |
14 |
29 |
Florida
|
26 |
4 |
1-5 |
2-2 |
10 |
31 |
Upcoming Games
-
Florida will play their next game at home against Toronto. The Panthers have a W/L % of .333 after a win and .528 after a loss.
-
Tampa Bay will play their next game at home against Buffalo. The Lightning have a W/L % of .513 after a win and .720 after a loss.