Sergei Bobrovsky earned the fourth playoff shutout of his career, and Nate Schmidt scored the game-winning goal as the Florida Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-0. The win gave the Panthers a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven first-round series.
The Panthers scored early on a Schmidt slapshot from the top of the right circle in the first period. Surprisingly, the shot momentarily froze Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy as the puck cracked the net.
Playoff Schmidty™️ pic.twitter.com/XfibarZ38k
— x – Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) April 24, 2025
The Lightning had plenty of opportunities themselves to score throughout the game. Jake Guenzel and Braydon Point had open net opportunities go wide in just the first few minutes. The puck bounce favored Bobrovsky and Florida, just as it did in Game 1.
Florida locked down their defense in the third period, holding the Lightning to only three shots in the final stanza.
Mixed Special Teams Effort Plagues Lightning
Tampa Bay’s level of play was much higher than in Game 1. However, missed opportunities throughout Game 2 plagued the Atlantic Division runners-up. Special teams, both good and bad, played a key role in tonight’s matchup.
The Lightning went scoreless on five power play attempts while holding Florida scoreless on their three power plays. The penalty kill was much more improved than during Tuesday night’s loss.
Unfortunately for the Bolts, the lack of scoring on the man-advantage doomed the effort.
“If you want to win in the playoffs, you’ve got to kill penalties,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “We nullified theirs. They nullified ours.”
“We have got to find a way (to score).”
A key penalty kill came in the middle of the third period. An interference call on Brandon Hagel against Aleksander Barkov was upgraded to a five-minute major penalty. In what could have been a game-killing five minutes, the Lightning penalty kill created several shorthanded opportunities despite coming up short of scoring. Sadly, losing those five minutes of potential even-strength play did not help the Bolts’ cause.
Barkov was injured on the play and did not return to the game.
Cirelli Plays, Cirelli Stands Out
After leaving Tuesday night’s game due to injury, Anthony Cirelli was a game-time decision tonight. True to his nature and despite Tuesday’s injury, the Lightning center played and played tough all night. Attempts by Florida to pester Cirelli were met in kind, and the Ontario native stood his ground.
Cirelli scrapped with former Bolt Carter Verhaeghe and Brad Marchand midway through the second period after Verhaeghe boarded Hagel. Cirelli and Marchand drew roughing penalties, and Verhaeghe went off for his offense.
After the horn sounded to signal the end of the period, Cirelli tangled with Matthew Tkachuk and both were assessed unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.
As a result of his efforts, Cerelli ended up with 15:09 in ice time, and was a key factor on the Bolts’ penalty kill unit.
Uphill Climb For Tampa Bay
Consequently, the boys from Tampa Bay find themselves in a precarious position down two games to none heading to South Florida. However, this is not new territory for the Bolts. In 2022, the team fought back from a 2-0 series deficit against the New York Rangers to win the Eastern Conference Finals.
Although they face an uphill climb to get back into the series, the Lightning remain confident there is plenty more hockey to be played.
“Everyone is probably going to be talking that we’re done,” Guentzel said afterwards. “But we believe in this locker room that we can come back.”
“We’ve done it all year, so for us to go on the road and be together as a team, I think it is going to be ‘backs against the wall’ for all of us.”
Three Stars of the Game
1. Sergei Bobrovsky, Florida. Bobrovsky did what he does best in the playoffs: stop shots. The Russian phenom stopped all 19 shots he faced.
2. Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay. Vasilevskiy played tough and agile, making key saves when he needed to in order to keep Tampa Bay’s chances alive. He stopped 21 of 22 shots he faced, although he will probably wants the one he let through back dearly. Perhaps that will help the superstar goalie find the edge he desires to lock in for the rest of the series.
3. Nate Schmidt, Florida. Schmidt already has three goals in two games this series, including tonight’s game winner. He also led the Panthers with three blocked shots.
Up Next
The series moves south to Sunrise on Saturday at Amerant Bank Arena. Game time is at 1 p.m.
