The Florida Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 in their first game of the Stanley Cup Finals. The Panthers now lead the best-of-seven series at a game apiece.
Sam Reinart scored first for the Panthers, before Brandon Hagel tied the game 1-1 at the 16:04 mark of the first. After a scoreless second period, Carter Verhaeghe broke the tie with a power play goal less than a minute into the third period.
Matthew Tkachuk scored an empty-netter at the 17:55 mark of the third that would prove to be the winning goal. Steven Stamkos scored with ten seconds to go in the game to pull within 3-2, which is as close as the Lightning got to mounting a comeback.
Andrei Vasilevskiy went 25-of-27 in net in the losing effort, while Sergei Bobrovsky went 17-of-19 in net for Florida.
The Lightning will look to even the best-of-seven series when they take on the Panthers in Game 2 on Tuesday night. Puck drop from Sunrise is scheduled for 7:30 PM.
COVER PHOTO COURTESY GETTY IMAGES