Florida 4, Tampa Bay 1
When: 8:00 PM ET, Monday, May 24, 2021
Where: BB&T Center, Sunrise, Florida
Referees:
Francois St. Laurent, Kelly Sutherland
Linesmen:
Bevan Mills, Jonny Murray
Attendance:
11551
By Field Level Media
Spencer Knight became the second-youngest goalie ever to win his postseason debut, and the Florida Panthers kept their season alive by beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1 in Game 5 of their Central Division first-round series on Monday night in Sunrise, Fla.
Tampa Bay holds a 3-2 advantage in the best-of-seven series. The Lightning will host Game 6 on Wednesday night.
Only Don Beaupre (19 years, 202 days with the 1980-81 Minnesota North Stars) was younger at the time he won his playoff debut than Knight (20 years, 35 days).
Knight was the seventh-youngest goalie to appear in his first playoff game, the sixth-youngest to make his first postseason start. The Connecticut native, a 2019 first-round draft pick (13th overall), went 4-0-0 with a 2.32 goals-against average in the regular season.
Knight, who starred at Boston College, ended his first NHL playoff game with 36 saves. He likely will be in net again Wednesday.
It did not look good for Knight and the Panthers early as Blake Coleman and Ross Colton broke loose on a two-on-one in the opening minute. Colton scored at the 53-second mark after Knight played the puck.
Knight stopped the next 21 shots he faced in the opening period as the Lightning took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
Florida tied the score at 1 at 6:19 of the second period when MacKenzie Weegar tallied on a slap shot off a pass from Jonathan Huberdeau.
With 3:05 remaining in the second, the Panthers took their first lead since winning Game 3 on a goal from Mason Marchment.
Florida got a little bit of breathing room 35 seconds into the third period when Aleksander Barkov's point shot deflected off of Patric Hornqvist and past goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.
The Panthers wrapped it up with an empty-net goal from Frank Vatrano in the final seconds.
Vasilevskiy made 34 saves in the loss.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Tampa Bay |
|
Florida |
|
Ross Colton 1 |
Points |
Patric Hornqvist 2 |
|
Ross Colton 1 |
Goals |
Patric Hornqvist 1 |
|
Blake Coleman 1 |
Assists |
Aleksander Barkov 2 |
|
N/A |
Power Play Goals |
Patric Hornqvist 1 |
|
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
|
Andrei Vasilevskiy .919 |
Save Percentage |
Spencer Knight .973 |
|
Andrei Vasilevskiy 34 |
Saves |
Spencer Knight 36 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
| Tampa Bay
|
37 |
1 |
0-2 |
4-5 |
22 |
28 |
| Florida
|
38 |
4 |
1-5 |
2-2 |
6 |
30 |
Upcoming Games
-
Florida will play their next game on the road against Tampa Bay. The Panthers have a W/L % of .611 after a win and .750 after a loss.
-
Tampa Bay will play their next game at home against Florida. The Lightning have a W/L % of .639 after a win and .632 after a loss.
For more information, contact us