TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — AJ Grier and Etu Luostarinen scored short goals 42 seconds apart in the second period and the Florida Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2 on Sunday to open a home-and-home series. Contributed.
The teams will play again Monday night in Florida.
Sam Reinhart scored two goals, the second of which went into an empty net, and Spencer Knight stopped 19 shots for Stanley Cup champion Florida. The Panthers have won four in a row.
Nick Paul and Brayden Point scored for Tampa Bay, Andrei Vasilevskiy made 21 saves, and the Lightning won their fourth straight game.
With Tampa Bay on a power play midway through the second, Nikita Kucherov fueled an entry play that allowed Grier to steal the puck and eventually score for a 2-1 lead. On the next shift, Luostarinen scored on a breakaway.
takeout
Panthers: Florida leads the league in shorthanded goals with 10, six more than any other team. It was the eighth time in franchise history that the Panthers had two shorthanded goals in one game.
Lightning: Brayden Point has scored in eight straight games and has 18 goals in the past 20 games.
important moment
Subdued after Grier gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead on his second, Luostarinen peeled the puck off Anthony Cirelli and skated on a breakaway, beating Vasilevskiy for another short-handed goal.
Main status
Florida has won four straight in Tampa and is 7-2-2 in its last nine regular season games at Amalie Arena.
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