Ondrej Palat scored the series-clinching empty-net goal, as the panthers couldn't score on a great chance. (0:49)
In the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Florida panthers were swept out of the NHL playoffs, falling 2-0 to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 4 on Monday.
The Florida panthers were the NHL's top-seeded team entering the playoffs, having earned the franchise's first Presidents' Trophy title on the strength of a 122-point season. The Presidents' Trophy winners are the first to be swept from a playoff series since the first round of the playoffs in 2019.
Getting swept is difficult. It hurts. It hurts. There is no doubt about it.
Patrick Maroon tipped in a point blast fromZach Bogosian in the third period to give the visitors a 2-0 lead in the game. Ondrej Palat added an empty netter in the final minute.
The NHL's average scoring (4.11 goals per game) was the highest in the history of the league, thanks to the strength of the team's depth upfront. They were not shut out for the entire game. The last time Florida didn't score a goal before Monday was in the first round of the playoffs.
When it mattered most, all that firepower failed Florida.
The Carolinas stumbled their way past Washington in the first round, winning in six games but needing multiple come-from-behind performances to do so. The effort wouldn't suffice against the two-time Cup champion.
In the four games against the Lightning, Florida didn't score more than one goal. The top performers came up empty. In the regular season, Jonathan Huberdeau led the team with 115 points and was one of four 30-plus goal scorers. He had two assists. Claude Giroux had one assist. The only goal Florida scored on the power play in the playoffs was recorded by Sam Reinhart.
The man advantage was not good for the panthers.
Special teams were an issue for me. Andrew Brunette said that he took a lot of blame for the powerplay. I was really disappointed in myself for that.
In four games, Vasilevskiy gave up only three goals.
In his last seven series-clinching games, Vasilevskiy has made 199 saves and 200 shots.
The Lightning completed its sweep of Florida without top forward Brayden Point, who has been out since Game 6 of the first-round series against Toronto.
Brunette said that they are Stanley Cup champions for a reason. We want to be them.
Bobrovsky gave the team a chance to recover in Game 4 and throughout the series. He turned aside 23 shots in the first three games and registered a............
He couldn't get any help from the panthers.
The best game of the series was Game 4.
The second period had two goals from the other team being ruled out.
The situation room in Toronto tried to determine if the puck hit the mesh before Alex Killorn scored. The puck had left the surface of play. There was no goal for the bay.
Minutes later, the second review happened. Nikita Kucherov snapped a wrister past Bobrovsky, but Florida challenged for a hand pass off the draw. It took less than two minutes for the decision to be made.
Now that the playoffs are over, the panthers will face a long spring and summer to figure out what went wrong.
Brunette said that he would love to come back, but that was not his decision. I believe in this team and the group. I believe in them.
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