Florida Panthers Pull the ‘Gentleman’s Sweep’ on Lightning. Again

Another round of the Battle of Florida is done, and for the second straight postseason, the Panthers took down the rival Tampa Bay Lightning with the so-called ‘gentleman’s sweep.’

On Wednesday night, the Panthers held off the Lightning in a back-and-forth fight, holding to their slim lead going into the third and coming out with a 6-3 win in Game 5.

The Panthers beat the Lightning in 5 last year as well, only three of the wins came at home.

In this series, the Panthers went 3-0 in Tampa.

If there is any question which team controls this rivalry now, it was answered over the past week.

The Lightning may have earned home ice in the series by placing above the Panthers in the Atlantic standings, but as Paul Maurice rightly figured, it did not matter.

Tampa Bay took the first lead in a game in this series for the first time 2:33 into the game, but Carter Verhaeghe tied it with a power-play goal.

After that, it was Florida’s third line of Anton Lundell with Eetu Luostarinen and Brad Marchand that completely dominated every time they were on the ice.

Florida had leads of 2-1 and 3-2 — but Sam Bennett’s goal in the second to make it 4-3 gave the Panthers the lead for good.

Lundell and Sasha Barkov also scored for the Panthers; Luostarinen had the killer goal in the third to go with his three assists, with Brad Marchand getting two assists.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves.

The Panthers, who have won five straight postseason series, are on to the second round for the fourth straight year.

The defending Stanley Cup champions will have a couple of days off before the Eastern Conference semifinals begin, likely next week.

Florida will play the winner of the Toronto/Ottawa series; the Leafs hold a 3-2 lead, with Game 6 in Ottawa on Thursday night.

The Panthers would start the series on the road if the Maple Leafs win; Florida would hold home-ice advantage if the Senators pull the reverse sweep and win out.

Florida is 2-2 against the Lightning in the Battle of Florida.

Tampa Bay knocked the Panthers out of the playoffs in 2021 and 2022; the Panthers won the past two playoff series.

GAME 5: PANTHERS @ LIGHTNING

• Tampa Bay came into the night with five straight home wins when facing elimination in a series — including last year’s Game 4 against the Panthers. Tampa is now 16-14 all-time in elimination games, 8-6 at home.
• Since the start of the 2023 playoffs, the Panthers have won eight of nine postseason series including the past five.
• Verhaeghe has eight goals and 16 points in potential series-clinching games which is a franchise high.
• Luostarinen is the ninth player in franchise history to have three assists in a postseason game. He was the first to have a four-point night in a road playoff game.

PANTHERS / LIGHTNING SCORING

• Lightning 1, Panthers 0 (2:33 1st): Gage Goncalves gives the Lightning its first 1-0 lead of the series by pulling in a deflected shot from Luke Glendening and beating Sergei Bobrovsky.
• Panthers 1, Lightning 1 (5:21 1st PP): Carter Verhaeghe gets a loose puck off a point shot from Matthew Tkachuk and pulls it around Andrei Vasilevskiy.
• Panthers 2, Lightning 1 (10:06 1st): After a turnover, Brad Marchand finds Anton Lundell in the slot from the half wall and Florida has the lead.
• Lightning 2, Panthers 2 (12:16 1st): Nick Paul goes top corner to tie it up.
• Panthers 3, Lightning 2 (0:52 2nd): Gus Forsling lets one rip from the top of the left circle through traffic with Sasha Barkov deflecting it in.
• Lightning 3, Panthers 3 (9:57 2nd PP): Jake Guentzel gets his second power play of the series, and Tampa’s first since Game 1. The Panthers had killed off 15 straight power plays.
• Panthers 4, Lightning 3 (15:13 2nd): Sam Bennett charges out of the box after Eetu Luostarinen stole the puck from Nikita Kucherov, Bennett rifling a shot farside off a feed from Lundell.
• Panthers 5, Lightning 3 (13:02 3rd): Marchand drives to the net, halts at the line and sends a sharp pass to Eetu Luostarinen.
• Panthers 6, Lightning 3 (15:36 3rd EN): Sam Reinhart cashes in with Vasilevskiy on the bench.

FHN’S 5 STARS OF GAME 5

• 1. Eetu Luostarinen/Anton Lundell/Brad Marchand, Florida
• 2. Sergei Bobrovsky, Florida
• 3. Gus Forsling, Florida

2025 NHL STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS: GAME 1

FLORIDA PANTHERS v. OTTAWA/TORONTO WINNER

Toronto Leads Best-of-7 Series v. Senators 3-2

V. TORONTO

• This Season (Panthers Won 3-1) — At Florida: Panthers 5, Leafs 1 (Nov.27); Panthers 3, Leafs 1 (Ap. 8). At Toronto: Panthers 3, Maple Leafs 2 (March 14); Maple Leafs 3, Panthers 2 (April 2).
• Last Regular Season: Tied 2-2
• All-time Regular Season Series: Toronto leads 51-40-7, 7 ties
• All-time Postseason: Panthers d. Maple Leafs 4-1 (2023 ECS)

V. OTTAWA

• This Season (Ottawa Won 2-1) — At Ottawa: Senators 3, Panthers 1 (Oct 10); Senators 3, Panthers 0 (Ap. 5). At Florida: Panthers 5, Senators 1 (Feb. 8).
• Last Regular Season: Panthers won 4-0
• All-time Regular Season Series: Ottawa leads 59-49-5, 3 ties
• All-time Postseason: Would be first meeting