VIDEO ⟩ “Panthers” start the Stanley Cup with a win without Balinsky

“Patners” defeated Tampa Bay “Lightning” 3:2 (1:1, 0:0, 2:1) at home in the opening round of the quarterfinals of the Eastern Conference and reached 1-0 in the series up to four victories.

In the seventh minute of the match, Sam Reinhart changed the direction of the puck’s flight in front of the goal and made it 1:0 in favor of the home team, but four minutes before going into the break, Brandon Hagel made an accurate shot towards the goal – 1:1. The score remained tied until the first minute of the third period, when Carter Verhege put his stick in front of the goal and directed the puck into the goal – 2:1 for “Panthers”.

Two minutes and five seconds before the end of regular time, Matthew Tkeczak put the puck into an empty net and strengthened the lead for the Florida team, and nine seconds before the final signal, Steven Stemkos realized the majority and made it 2-3.

Sergejs Bobrovskis saved 17 of 19 shots in the “Panthers” goal, while Andrejs Vasilevskis managed 25 of 27 shots in the second goal.

The second game of the series will take place on April 23, the third and fourth in Tampa on April 25 and 27. If more than four games are needed in the series, the next matches are scheduled for April 29 at Panthers, May 1 at Lightning’s home and May 4 at Panthers Arena.

The conference semifinals will feature a meeting with the winner of the pair of Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs.

In the previous season, the Vegas “Golden Knights” beat the Florida “Panthers” 4-1 in the final series, and Theodore Blüger became the winner of the Stanley Cup as part of the Vegas team.