The upcoming No. 1 contender has the ageing former champ on the ropes.
The Florida Panthers went up 3-0 of their Japanese Convention first-round playoff collection towards the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday evening, choosing up a 5-3 victory at Amalie Area in Tampa Bay.
The Panthers, which misplaced within the Stanley Cup Last to the Vegas Golden Knights final season, have the Lightning — who gained the Cup in 2020 and 2021 and reached the Last in 2022 — getting ready to elimination.
“You undergo one thing like final yr, you study issues you possibly can enhance on,” Florida’s Sam Reinhart mentioned on TBS after the sport.
Tampa Bay was eradicated within the first spherical of the playoffs final season.
Sport 4 is Saturday at Amalie Area at 5 p.m. ET
Matthew Tkachuk scored twice for the Panthers, bookending the proceedings with the sport’s first purpose within the first interval and the clincher into an empty internet with 32 seconds remaining.
Fourth-liner Steven Lorentz acquired the eventual game-winner, which made it 4-2 with 9:41 left. He additionally added an help.
