Vincent Lecavalier leads Tampa Bay Lightning past Florida Panthers 4-2 – NHL Recap
Vincent Lecavalier lit the lamp twice and goal-tender Dwayne Roloson turned aside 23 shots to help the Tampa Bay Lightning dominate the Florida Panthers 4-2, at St. Pete Times Forum on Friday night.
Lightning Captain Vincent Lecavalier said after the game, "It's all about trying to get momentum (heading into) the playoffs. The playoffs are, obviously, the most important thing. We’re happy, but we’re not satisfied.”
Ryan Malone scored a goal and an assist for the Lightning, who has won six of their previous seven contests. This victory gave Lightning 101 points for the season.
Lightning Head Coach Guy Boucher was pleased with his side’s performance. He said, “It’s an achievement. You’ve been battling with the big boys. We’ve done pretty well. I want to do great.”
Tampa Bay will move into the National Hockey League play-offs as the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference and will face either Pittsburgh Penguins or Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the post-season.
Mike Santorelli and Jason Garrison each tallied a goal for Florida, which has lost 10 consecutive games. Goalie Scott Clemmensen gave up all four goals on 33 shots in the loss.
Panthers Head Coach Peter DeBoer was disappointed that his side did not show a strong enough effort, which allowed the Tampa Bay to take control of the game. He said, “I was proud of our effort. I thought we came out ready to play and we played right to
the buzzer.”
Lightning got the scoring started on a power-play in the fifth minute of the opening period when Lecavalier fired a shot from the low slot that beat Clemmensen to make it 1-0.
Panthers pulled even with less than eight minutes to play in the first stanza when defenseman Jason Garrison unleashed a slap shot past Lightning net-minder.
Lightning moved ahead 2-1 with less than four minutes remaining in the first period. The goal came when Malone fired a back-handed shot that went off Florida centre-man Shawn Matthias and into the back of the net.
Lecavalier gave Tampa Bay a 3-1 lead with his second goal of the nigh in the second minute of the middle period. The goal occurred when Lecavalier unleashed a wrist shot on his penalty shot that beat Clemmensen.
Tampa Bay took a 4-1 lead with less than five minutes to play in the middle period on Kubina’s power-play goal. The goal came when Kubina, playing in his 900th NHL game, blasted a shot past the Panthers’ goal-keeper.
Santorelli pulled the Panthers within another goal early in the third period when he put the puck off Roloson and into the back of the Lightning’s net to make it a 4-2. It was Santorelli’s 20th goal of the season.
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