Apr 30, 2025, 10:39 PM ET
TAMPA, Fla. — Eetu Luostarinen had a goal and three assists to lead the Panthers to a 6-3 Game 5 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning as Florida moved into the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Carter Verhaeghe, Anton Lundell, Aleksander Barkov, Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart also scored for Florida. Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 26 saves as the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers defeated their in-state rival in five games in the first round for the second consecutive season.
The Panthers will play the winner of the Maple Leafs–Senators series, which Toronto currently leads 3-2.
Nick Paul, Gage Goncalves and Jake Guentzel scored for Tampa Bay. Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 25 saves. Since advancing to three consecutive Stanley Cup Final appearances from 2020-22, the Lightning have lost in the first round for the past three seasons. Tampa Bay fell to 1-9 in the past 10 home playoff games.
Bennett scored with 4:47 left in the second period just six seconds after he came out of the penalty box, finishing off a 2-on-1 chance and beating Vasilevskiy to the far post on the stick side to lift the Panthers to a 4-3 lead. The Panthers have now won 22 straight playoff games when leading after two periods.
Tampa Bay scored the opening goal for the first time in the series when Goncalves scored 2:33 into the game. But Florida answered with a power-play goal from Verhaeghe at 5:21 and Lundell redirected a Brad Marchand pass at 10:06.
Paul pulled the Lightning even at 12:16 of the first with his second goal of the series.
Barkov tipped a Gustav Forsling shot 52 seconds into the second to put Florida back in front before Guentzel snapped an 0-for-16 power play slump for Tampa Bay at 9:57.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
