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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Steven Stamkos scored two objectives and Nikita Kucherov had a aim and three assists and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Florida Panthers 5-1 to maneuver to the brink of one other journey to the Jap Convention ultimate on Sunday.
Corey Perry and Erik Cernak additionally scored, and reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner Andrei Vasilevskiy had 34 saves to assist the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions take a commanding 3-0 sequence lead over the Panthers, who had the NHL’s finest file in the course of the common season.
Sport 4 is Monday night time at Amalie Area, the place the Lightning have received three of 4 video games this postseason. Another victory will ship them to the Jap Convention ultimate for the sixth time in eight years.
Vasilevskiy allowed only one aim for the fourth straight sport after permitting at the very least three in every of Tampa Bay’s first six video games this postseason. He’s been helped in that dominating stretch, as his teammates in entrance of him have helped by taking part in wonderful group protection.
Sam Reinhart scored Florida’s lone aim in Sport 3, snapping a puzzling 0-for-25 begin to the playoffs for the Panthers’ energy play.
Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 31 of 34 pictures, with Perry and Cernak each scoring solely moments after Florida killed off penalties within the first and second durations. Stamkos’ one-timer off a cross from Kucherov made it 3-1 halfway by the second.
Kucherov and Stamkos added empty-net objectives within the ultimate 4 minutes after the Panthers eliminated Bobrovsky in favor of an additional attacker.
Perry, who signed with Tampa Bay as a free agent after being a part of groups that misplaced to the Lightning in every of the previous two Stanley Cup Finals, re-directed Ryan McDonagh’s shot previous Bobrovsky to get the defending champs an early lead.
The Panthers, 0-for-25 on the ability play by their first 9 playoff video games, lastly broke by to tie it 1-all with Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov establishing Reinhart to beat Vasilevskiy from in entrance of the web.
In the end, although, Florida paid for its lack of ability to capitalize on different alternatives.
Barkov simply missed answering Cernak’s aim that put the Lightning forward 2-1, sending a shot from the suitable circle off the put up. The Panthers additionally narrowly missed pulling even throughout a second-period energy play that produced a number of probabilities, together with Huberdeau’s wide-open look that McDonagh deflected up over the web together with his stick.
Florida completed 1-for-3, dropping to 1-for-28 in man-advantage conditions this postseason.
NOTES: Along with his fiftieth profession playoff aim, Perry moved forward of Brad Marchant and Patrick Bergeron into sole possession of sixth place amongst energetic profession playoff aim leaders. … The Lightning are 9-0 in best-of-seven sequence through which they’ve received the primary two video games, together with final yr’s first-round victory over the Panthers. … Lightning C Brayden Level missed his third consecutive sport due to a decrease physique harm suffered throughout Tampa Bay’s Sport 7 victory over Toronto within the first spherical.
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Extra AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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