Game 3: Ryan Lomberg the OT hero as Panthers strike Lightning

TAMPA — The Florida Panthers had reason to be feeling good about themselves after the first period of Game 3 against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night.

They may have been absolutely sick to their stomachs after the second.

Tampa Bay put on a show worthy of a defending champion as it put up five in the second period to erase a 2-0 deficit. The Panthers, now down two, did not walk away from the fight.

Thanks to goals from Patric Hornqvist and Gus Forsling, the Panthers tied the score and forced overtime.

That allowed the hero of the night to be: Ryan Lomberg?

Yeah, Lomberg.

The Panthers fourth liner who has ticked off the Lightning throughout the early goings of this series jumped on a loose puck in the neutral zone and beat Andrei Vasilevskiy 5:56 into overtime to give the Panthers a rousing 6-5 victory.

”Great shot by Lombo,” Joel Quenneville said. “A lot of times in overtime, it’s the guys least expected to score come up large and the enthusiasm after that goal, after that win, is as high as I have ever seen.”

By virtue of Florida’s come-from-behind win, the Panthers will play host to Game 5 on Monday night as Tampa Bay now leads the best-of-7 series 2-1.