Tampa Bay 4, Florida 0
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, April 4, 2015
Where: BB&T Center, Sunrise, Florida
Referees:
Mike Leggo, Kevin Pollock
Linesmen:
Pierre Racicot, Shane Heyer
Attendance:
11072
By SportsDirect Inc.
Lightning 4, Panthers 0: Captain Steven Stamkos scored twice to snap a seven-game drought and added an assist as visiting Tampa Bay rolled over Florida.
Ben Bishop turned aside 34 shots for his fourth shutout of the season and eclipsed his own team record with his career-best 38th victory. Ryan Callahan and Tyler Johnson each contributed a goal and an assist for the Lightning, who clinched home ice for the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs while tying Montreal for first place in the Atlantic Division.
Roberto Luongo made 18 saves for the Panthers, who were eliminated from playoff contention after only their third regulation loss in nine games. Florida went 0-for-4 on the power play, including a brief two-man advantage in the third period, while losing to Tampa Bay for the seventh time in eight meetings.
Bishop stopped seven shots in the opening 20 minutes and 15 more in the second period, including a big toe stop on Tomas Kopecky, while the Lightning gave him a 2-0 lead. Stamkos one-timed Johnson's cross-ice pass past Luongo from the top of the left faceoff circle during a power play 6:10 into the middle session to open the scoring.
Stamkos doubled the advantage with 8:41 left in the period with a wrist shot from the right circle that beat Luongo high to the glove side. Tampa Bay gave itself more cushion as Callahan snapped a shot into the net from the right circle 63 seconds into the third and Johnson tallied with 1:47 left as Bishop finished off his 12th career shutout.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Stamkos has recorded 25 goals in 35 career games against the Panthers. … Tampa Bay LW Alex Killorn sat out with an undisclosed injury and is considered day-to-day, while Johnson returned after missing the previous three games with an upper-body injury. … All 18 Florida skaters registered at least one shot on goal, with RW Jaromir Jagr and D Willie Mitchell recording five apiece. ... The Lightning have scored a power-play goal in four straight games.
Top Game Performances
| Tampa Bay |
|
Florida |
|
Steven Stamkos 3 |
Points |
N/A |
|
Steven Stamkos 2 |
Goals |
N/A |
|
Steven Stamkos 1 |
Assists |
N/A |
|
Steven Stamkos 1 |
Power Play Goals |
N/A |
|
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
|
Ben Bishop 1.000 |
Save Percentage |
Roberto Luongo .818 |
|
Ben Bishop 34 |
Saves |
Roberto Luongo 18 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
| Tampa Bay
|
22 |
4 |
1-1 |
4-4 |
8 |
28 |
| Florida
|
34 |
0 |
0-4 |
0-1 |
2 |
23 |
Upcoming Games
-
Florida will play their next game at home against Montreal. The Panthers have a W/L % of .333 after a win and .558 after a loss.
-
Tampa Bay will play their next game at home against New Jersey. The Lightning have a W/L % of .542 after a win and .688 after a loss.
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