Lightning topple Panthers for 3-0 series lead

EditorsNote: minor edits all through

Nikita Kucherov had a objective and three assists to assist the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the visiting Florida Panthers 5-1 in Recreation 3 of their second-round playoff sequence on Sunday and transfer inside one win of advancing to the Jap Convention Finals for a 3rd straight season.

Steven Stamkos scored two objectives for Tampa Bay, and Corey Perry and Erik Cernak additionally scored. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 34 saves for the Lightning, the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions who will carry a 3-0 lead into Recreation 4 on Monday night time in Tampa.

Vasilevskiy held the Toronto Maple Leafs to 1 objective in a 2-1 victory in Recreation 7 of their first-round sequence, and he has restricted the Panthers to 1 objective in every of the primary three video games of this sequence.

Sam Reinhart scored Sunday, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves for Florida, which had the perfect file within the NHL in the course of the common season.

Perry, who turned 37 earlier within the week, scored for the third straight sport, off a deflection in entrance of the web to offer the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 13:21 of the primary interval.

Brandon Hagel was penalized for cross-checking Eetu Luostarinen into the tip boards, and the Panthers went on their first energy play at 15:29 of the primary.

Florida got here in 0-for-25 with the man-advantage in these playoffs, however Reinhart scored on the following energy play to make the rating 1-1 at 16:07.

Cernak used Florida defenseman MacKenzie Weegar as a display and scored with a wrist shot from the left circle to offer Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead at 2:54 of the second interval.

Aleksander Barkov hit the submit for the Panthers at 5:59 earlier than the Lightning stretched the result in 3-1 on a one-timer from the left circle by Stamkos.

Kucherov scored into an empty internet to make it 4-1 with 3:54 left. Stamkos then hit the empty internet with 2:09 remaining.

–Discipline Stage Media