Panthers maintain OT excellence, down Lightning

Carter Verhaeghe scored on a backhander 2:59 into overtime as the Florida Panthers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 in Game 2 of a first-round Eastern Conference playoff series at Sunrise, Fla.

The Panthers lead the best-of-seven series 2-0. Game 3 is set for Thursday night in Tampa.

Florida won its 11th consecutive playoff overtime game, eight of those since the start of the 2023 postseason.

Sam Bennett and Verhaeghe each had a goal and an assist, Vladimir Tarasenko also scored and Matthew Tkachuk had two assists for the Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves for the victory.

Bennett left the game in the second period due to an upper-body injury, and he did not return.

Brayden Point and Steven Stamkos scored for Tampa Bay, and Victor Hedman added two assists. Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy made 34 saves.

Florida opened the scoring 6:16 into the first period.

Bennett, skating on the right wing, started the play by centering a pass just before looping around behind the net. As that was happening, Tkachuk drove to the net only to be pushed from behind by Tampa Bay's Brandon Hagel. Tkachuk crashed into Vasilevskiy as the puck fell to Bennett, who scored on a backhander into the open right side of the net.

The Panthers finished the first period up 2-0 thanks in part to a tripping penalty on Tampa Bay's Mitchell Chaffee, who clipped Eetu Luostarinen.

From there, the Panthers scored with their second power-play unit. Oliver Ekman Larsson started the sequence with a shot from the point. Bennett dug out the rebound and made a quick pass just a few feet to his right, where Tarasenko was wide open for the goal.

Tampa Bay got on the board 48 seconds into the second period.

Anthony Duclair, a former Panthers forward, earned the primary assist as his shot from just beyond the right circle deflected in off the right leg of Point, who was battling Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad for position in front of the net.

Tampa Bay, which had the top-ranked power play in the NHL during the regular season, tied the score 2-2 on Stamkos' shot with the man advantage at 5:46 of the second.

After an interference penalty on Verhaeghe, the Lightning went to work. Hedman earned the primary assist for his pass to Stamkos, who scored on a one-timer from the right circle. Stamkos' shot deflected off the stick of Ekblad, and the puck snuck inside the right post.