Florida Panthers at FLA Live Arena — Courtesy: Shutterstock — YES Market Media
TAMPA, Florida — The Florida Panthers defeated the rival Tampa Bay Lightning 9-2 on Saturday night, setting a franchise record for the most wins on the road with two goals and two helpers apiece from Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk.
With the Boston Bruins’ defeat earlier in the day, Florida is now one victory away from matching league history. The Panthers are currently leading the Atlantic Division by one point. For the majority of the season, Boston, the division’s defending champion, has held the top spot.
Florida coach Paul Maurice stated, “Over 82 [games], you’ll get one of those where it all goes in for you.” We’ve had numerous occasions where the puck hasn’t gone in for us, particularly in the early part of the year. Thus, the boys should enjoy one of those evenings.”
For an away game, Florida, the reigning Eastern Conference champion, equaled its franchise high in goals scored. On November 26, 1997, Florida defeated Boston 10–5 at home, setting a record for overall scoring with 10 goals.
“Scoring so many goals is pretty rare in this league,” Florida center Aleksander Barkov remarked. “Everyone is having fun out there and playing the right way and playing hard no matter what the score was.”
The NHL record of 11 games played during the regular season is being chased by the Detroit Red Wings in 2005–06 and the Minnesota Wild in 2014–15. (The Colorado Avalanche won 15 straight games, including playoff games; this run of victories ended last season.)
Florida will get an opportunity to match that total on Thursday away at the Carolina Hurricanes, following a home game against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday.
In its past encounters, Florida has defeated rivals 51–18.
“I think this is a one-off,” Maurice said, when asked if the seven-goal victory against a rival sent a message to their in-state foes. “I really do. Some people are walking away with a few extra points in their pocket, but I don’t think that’s what these guys care about. It’s not what drives them. It’s a good road win for us.”
With his eighth straight road win, Sergei Bobrovsky set a franchise record with 28 saves. Brandon Montour scored twice and provided two assists, while Carter Verhaeghe scored twice and provided an assist. Gustav Forsling and Kevin Stenlund also scored for Florida.
“Tampa is probably our biggest league rival,” said Bennett, who had not scored a point in six games. “So, anytime we can come into their building and put a game on like that, it definitely feels good.”
With goals from Brayden Point and Brandon Hagel, the Lightning ended an eight-game home winning run. At the beginning of the third, Andrei Vasilevskiy gave up six goals on 22 shots before Jonas Johansson (six saves) took over.
Captain of the Lightning Steven Stamkos stated, “I’ve been on both sides of these types of nights, and it’s tough when you’re on this side.” “But the response, we’ll see where we are.”
NHL points leader Nikita Kucherov extended his point run to 10 games with an assist on a power-play goal in the third period for Tampa Bay, which now trails the Panthers by 11 points. But he ended the game with a minus-4.
Tkachuk scored twice on the power play to give the Panthers a 6-1 lead in the first 1:37 of the second period. He set a record for the fastest two goals by a player to begin a period in Panthers history.
With the Panthers winning 11 straight games on the road, Tkachuk has 12 goals and 25 points.
24 seconds after Hagel’s goal to open the score, Montour, Bennett, Stenlund, and Forsling scored four goals in a row to help the Panthers fight back.
“Twenty-four seconds it was a [heck] of a game for the home fans,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “For 59 minutes and 36 seconds, one team was better than the other.”
Florida’s two goals in the third period came from Verhaeghe.
“We love playing together,” Verhaeghe said when asked about the dominance away from home. “We love going on the road and bonding with the guys. And I think road games are more simple for us. We know we’re going to get the other team’s best.”
Defenseman Aaron Ekblad of Florida is day-to-day due to a lower-body ailment that kept him out of the game.
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Born and raised in South Florida, Krystal is a recent graduate from the University of Miami with professional writing experience at the collegiate and national news outlet levels. She’s a foodie who loves all things travel, the beach, & visiting new places throughout Florida.