Game 4: Panthers Storm Back, Drop Lightning for 3-1 Series Lead

SUNRISE — The Florida Panthers were on the verge of going back to Tampa tied with the Lightning in their playoff series.

And then everything changed.

Everything.

The Panthers trailed by a goal Monday before Aaron Ekblad and Seth Jones scored 11 seconds apart to lift Florida to an improbable 4-2 win in Game 4.

Florida holds a 3-1 series lead going back to Tampa for Game 5 on Wednesday.

The Lightning had erased Anton Lundell’s second-period goal by having the first two-goal spurt in an 11-second span in the second period,

Down 2-1 in the third, the Panthers appeared to tie things up on a rebound power-play goal from Ekblad, only Sam Bennett was offside and the goal came off the board.

The Panthers, who killed off a 5-minute power play early in the period, did get an Ekblad goal to make it 2-2 with 3:47 remaining.

And, like the Lightning, Florida scored again 11 seconds later when Jones’ shot went off a Tampa defender.

You don’t see games like that very often.

GAME 4: LIGHTNING @ PANTHERS

• Ekblad could face NHL supplemental discipline for his high hit on Brandon Hagel midway through the second period. There was no penalty on the play, but Hagel went straight to the room.
• Niko Mikkola was tossed from the game with a 5minute major and 10-minute game misconduct for boarding Zemgus Girgensons just 19 seconds into the third.
• Lundell scored his first goal of these playoffs and with seven goals and 22 assists, he is a point away from becoming the sixth player in franchise history to record 30 postseason points.

LIGHTNING / PANTHERS SCORING

• Panthers 1, Lightning 0 (9:06 2nd): Brad Marchand beats Emil Lilleberg and Nick Perbix to the puck in the corner, then takes a pass from Eetu Luostarinen in the right circle. Marchand weaves through traffic then feeds Anton Lundell in the slot for the game’s first goal.
• Lightning 1, Panthers 1 (12:21 2nd): Mitchell Chaffee scores off a rebound from a Lilleberg shot as Sergei Bobrovsky hits the deck on an inadvertent hit.
• Lightning 2, Panthers 1 (12:32 2nd): The Lightning win the ensuing faceoff, with Erik Cernak whipping one in from the right circle for Tampa Bay’s second goal in a span of 11 seconds.
• Panthers 2, Lightning 2 (16:13 3rd): Aaron Ekblad finds a rebound off a Sam Reinhart shot in the slot and wrists it over Andrei Vasilevskiy’s glove to tie things up.
• Panthers 3, Lightning 2 (16:24 3rd): Seth Jones fires one through with eyes, the puck glancing off a Tampa defender to break the tie.
• Panthers 4, Lightning 2 (18:20 3rd EN): Carter Verhaeghe ices this one.

FHN’S 3 STARS OF GAME 4

• 1. Aaron Ekblad, Florida
• 2. Seth Jones, Florida
• 3. Anton Lundell, Florida

2025 NHL STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

EASTERN CONFERENCE 1ST ROUND: GAME 5

FLORIDA PANTHERS @ TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING 

Panthers lead Best-of-7 Series 3-1

• When: Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.
• Where: Amalie Arena, Tampa 
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
• National TV: ESPN2
• Streaming: Panthers+
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Series Schedule — Game 1: Florida 6, @ Tampa Bay 2; Game 2: Florida 2, @ Tampa Bay 0; Game 3: Tampa Bay 5, @ Florida 1; Game 4: @ Florida 4, Tampa Bay 2; Game 5 at Tampa: Wednesday (ESPN2/Scripps), 7:30; Game 6* at Florida: Friday, May 2 (TBA); Game 7* at Tampa: Sunday, May 4 (TBA).
• Regular Season Series: Tied 2-2
• All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 79-53-19, 10 ties
• All-Time Postgame Series: Tampa Bay Leads 2-1 (won 2021 first-round, 2022 ECS); Florida d. Lightning 4-1 in 2024 first-round.