Florida Panthers Blank in Exhibition Match to Tampa, 5-0

After a long wait due to the Coronavirus, the Florida Panthers were returning to action in their lone exhibition match against their in-state rival, the Tampa Bay Lightning.

It’s been just over four months since the last Florida Panthers game, but after such a long, grueling wait, the Panthers were back and ready to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning in preparation for Game 1 against the  New York Islanders.

Florida came out of the gates slow and rusty, with the latter being expected. It took some time for them to find their footing after a long time off, but thanks to Sergei Bobrovsky, he was able to turn aside some good chances to keep the game scoreless.

As the Cats started to build up their speed, they were rewarded with the first power-play opportunity of the afternoon, thanks to Kevin Shattenkirk’s slash. Unfortunately, the Panthers were unable to display anything as Tampa limited all their chances to the sidewall, preventing any high-danger chances from occurring.

Shortly after, Tampa committed its second infraction of the game, with the culprit being Luke Schenn who flipped the puck out of play. With a second man-advantage on the horizon, there was no better opportunity for the Panthers to cash in. But much like the first power-play, Florida’s movement was non-existent and their creative was stale, making life all that much easier for Tampa to defend.

With Florida failing to convert their chances, Tampa did the polar opposite by striking first. Off a defensive error in their own zone, Lucas Wallmark coughed up the puck to Nikita Kucherov – the wrong guy to turn the puck over to. Kucherov quickly dished the puck out, eventually finding Brayden Point on the other side who tucked a backhander under Bobrovsky to give the Bolts the first lead of the game.

As the Lightning were searching for another a two-goal cushion, Aleksander Barkov found some open space between the two Lightning defensemen, driving out wide to create a breakaway with only Andrei Vasilevskiy to beat. Barkov attempted to sneak a backhand shot underneath Vasilevskiy’s wickets, but the Russian netminder closed his five-hole to stop Barkov cleanly.

Florida’s failed attempt to even the game was a backstabber before the first period came to a close as Point picked up a pass alongside the boards, rushed down into Panthers territory, and snapping a shot up and over Bobrovsky to find his second of the game, extending Tampa’s lead to two. After twenty minutes of play, the Panthers were heading to the dressing room down by two goals, with nothing to show off two power-play opportunities.

In the second, Frank Vatrano interfered with Cedric Paquette, sending the Lightning to their first power play of the game. Unlike their in-state rival, it only took the Bolts one opportunity to cash-in as Kucherov sniped a one-timer past a helpless Bobrovsky to triple Tampa’s lead.

To Florida’s dismay, the Bolts continued pressing on the gas, forcing the Panthers to swallow their agonizing pressure. This time, it was Luke Schenn adding more salt to the Panthers’ wound, snapping a shot top-corner to increase the Lightning’s lead to four.

The Cats were presented with another good opportunity to put their first on the board after Erik Haula raced down the lengths of the ice only to be denied by Vasilevskiy. It was the second breakaway stop for the 26-year-old.

After forty minutes of play, it was Tampa heading down to the dressing room with a comfortable, four-goal cushion. The Panthers, on the other hand, were continuing to sink deeper.

In the last period of play, Tampa effortlessly closed out the remainder of the game by adding a luxury tally through Kucherov. Point drove out wide with Kucherov heading towards the goal, beautifully feeding him a slick, cross-crease pass, leaving Kucherov to tap home for a commanding, five-goal lead.

Brian Boyle and Mikhail Sergachev also went for a dance after tussling with one another during open play as Florida’s temper was starting to flare with complete frustration.

Aleksi Saarela was presented with what was the last chance of the game to put Florida on the board, but like the other two breakaway chances, Vasilevskiy calmly denied Saarela to preserve his shutout.

After sixty minutes of what was a one-sided game, the Lightning went on to blank the Panthers by a final score of 5-0. For the Bolts, it looked as if the time off didn’t affect them one bit, while the Panthers, on the other hand, looked rusty (and lifeless) as ever.

Overall, Florida was completely outmatched this afternoon, with nothing to show for it. The power play was non-existent, the offense was stale, and the D were all over the place. Of course, it’s critical to note that Weegar and Ekblad (top pair) not being in the lineup didn’t help, but you still expect to see something a little more respectable than what we just saw. Thankfully, this game counts for nothing, but hopefully, it sparks a flame under everyone for Saturday.

Your Panthers are back in action on Saturday, August 1 @ 4 P.M. against the New York Islanders to kick-off Game 1 of their best-of-five, play-in series!