In four games over a pressure-filled week, the Tampa Bay Lightning have gone from the brink of playoff elimination to a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semi-finals.
Ross Colton on Thursday scored with 3.8 seconds remaining, giving the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions a 2-1 victory over the Florida Panthers in Game 2 of their best-of-seven series.
The Lightning have won four straight since falling behind Toronto 3-2 in the first round and will look to take a commanding series lead over the Presidents Trophy-winning Panthers when the matchup moves across the state to Tampa for Game 3 tomorrow.
Photo: AP
Colton said he was just trying not to get scored on in the final minute. He wound up being the hero when Nikita Kucherov retrieved a loose puck behind the Florida net and flicked a perfect no-look, backhand pass that Colton lifted over Sergei Bobrovsky’s right shoulder to win it.
“I was kind of trying to sit back and let the plays come to us, but when you’re on the ice with [Kucherov] you have to be ready for anything. Once I saw the puck behind the net, I just went to the front of the net,” Colton said. “He’s got eyes in the back of his head, as you can see, because I didn’t even know he knew I was there. He gift-wrapped it for me. Luckily it just squeaked under the bar there, but unbelievable play by him.”
Florida, who had the NHL’s best record during the regular season, now have to win four of the final five games in the series to advance to the Eastern Conference Final, while the Lightning are playing like a team determined to become the first to win three straight Stanley Cup titles since the New York Islanders captured four in a row in the early 1980s.
“We’re two games closer to where we want to be, but we’re not there yet,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “I told you this in the last series, and I’m going to tell you again: Tonight was just one game. We’re here to win a series.”
Florida interim head coach Andrew Brunette expects the Panthers to bounce back when the series resumes in Tampa.
“Obviously, it’s really hard. It’s not easy. This is a roller-coaster ride that were are on,” Brunette said. “The sun will come up and we will wake up, and we need to keep playing like we’re playing.”
Tampa Bay’s power play once again was a catalyst, producing Corey Perry’s first-period goal after delivering three goals in the Lightning’s 4-1 victory in Game 1.
Florida’s power play continued to sputter.
The Panthers scored the third-most power-play goals during the regular season, but entered the second game of the series none for 21 in man-advantage situations through seven post-season games.
They were none for four on Thursday, with the team’s lone goal coming on a shot from Eetu Luostarinen that trickled past Andrei Vasilevskiy with 1:53 remaining in the second period.
“They are squeezing it,” Brunnette said of Florida’s power play. “It’s really unbelievable. I liked the urgency, thought we had some looks. I thought it was better. There was a great opportunity to capitalize.”
Bobrovsky said the Panthers have to try and forget the loss and come back ready to fight tomorrow.
“Obviously, everyone is disappointed,” Bobrovsky said. “It was quiet, but all the guys are pros. They understand that the next game is big. We can make a difference in the future, not in the past. That’s it. We have to stay together and keep working.”
“This is a good challenge for us. The whole year we have been fighting,” he said. “We have found a way to come back in games, from adversities. This is another test for us. We’re just going to reset and regroup for the next one.”
Vasilevskiy stopped 34 of 35 shots for Tampa Bay. Bobrovsky finished with 25 saves.
In Denver, Colorado, David Perron scored two goals, while Jordan Kyrou and Brandon Saad also scored as the St Louis Blues beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-1 in Game 2 of the Western Conference semi-finals.
Jordan Binnington stopped 30 shots and Pavel Buchnevich had two assists for St Louis, who evened the best-of-seven series at 1-1.
Gabriel Landeskog scored and Darcy Kuemper had 28 saves for the Avalanche, who lost for the first time in the playoffs and had their eight-game post-season winning streak against the Blues snapped.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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