RECAP: Panthers 2, Lightning 0

TAMPA BAY – A brick wall has been sighted in Tampa.

Stopping all 19 shots fired in his direction, Sergei Bobrovsky backstopped the Florida Panthers to a 2-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Amalie Arena on Thursday.

Setting a franchise record, the shutout was Bobrovsky’s fourth as a Panther.

“The amount of time he puts in to being great, you can’t be surprised,” said head coach Paul Maurice.

Righteous on the road, the Panthers are heading back to Sunrise with a 2-0 series lead.

“We put ourselves in a good position here,” said Seth Jones after the win. “We understand the series isn’t over, that’s a great team over there and they’re capable of putting up big numbers.”

As the Panthers expected, the Lightning came flying out of the gate.

Withstanding the early pressure, the penalty kill stepped up early and prevented any damage from the Lightning on the man advantage less than two minutes into the game.

Bending but not breaking, Bobrovsky stopped several high-danger shots in the first period.

Following up a two-goal Game 1, Nate Schmidt kept the offense rolling into Game 2.

Blasting in a one timer, No. 88 put the Panthers ahead 1-0 at 4:15.

Per NHL Stats, Schmidt, a key offseason acquisition by Florida, became the sixth blueliner in the history of the NHL to score three goals through his team’s first two playoff games.

With physicality ramping up, the two teams combined for 34 hits in the first period.

They don’t call it the Battle of Florida for nothing.

With neither team allowing much offense, the second period saw more combined hits (21) than shots on goal (15).

Both teams also had chances on the man advantage, but the penalty kills kept it 1-0.

Laying the body on the line, the Panthers had 13 blocked shots through two periods.

But in the third period, the physicality went too far.

After being the victim of a dangerous and violent hit from Lightning forward Brandon Hagel, Panthers superstar captain Aleksander Barkov left the game and did not return to action.

Hagel was given a 5-minute penalty for the hit, but was allowed to remain in the game.

Per Maurice, there is no update on Barkov’s status yet.

With just a few seconds left in regulation – and following another big stop from Bobrovsky – the Panthers locked in their 2-0 win on an empty-net goal from Sam Bennett at 19:56.

Assisting on the goal, Seth Jones earned his first playoff point as a Panther.

“We’re excited to get back in front of our fans and use some of that momentum,” said Jones.

THEY SAID IT

“It’s exactly what we wanted to do, come in here and win the first two.” – Sam Bennett on going up 2-0 in the series on the road

“We knew it was going to be a hard series. Nothing is easy, you got to earn everything.” – Anton Lundell on the battle of the series

CATS STATS

- Anton Lundell went 7-for-9 in the faceoff circle.

- Nate Schmidt blocked a team-high three shots.

- The Panthers allowed just six 5-on-5 shot attempts in the third period.

- Sam Reinhart led forwards with 22:45 time-on-ice

- Sam Bennett had a team high four shots

WHAT’S NEXT?

It’s time for playoff hockey to return to Sunrise.

Hoping to extend their series lead to a commanding 3-0, the Panthers will host the Lightning for an afternoon battle on Saturday at Amerant Bank Arena at 1:00 p.m. ET.

For tickets, click HERE.