The Florida Panthers outlasted the Tampa Bay Lightning in a physical bout to win 2-0 and go up 2-0 in the series. They took both games in the Lightning’s barn with a chance to take a commanding lead on home ice. Ever since the Lightning swept the Panthers out of the second round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Panthers have won six of their last seven playoff games against their Sunshine State counterpart. Game Recap Nate Schmidt scored the lone goal with Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy between the pipes. The Panthers won a faceoff in the early minutes of the first period. Sam Bennett passed the puck over to Schmidt, and he fired a one-timer past Vasilevskiy to pick up an early game-winning goal. Along with Bennett, Aleksander Barkov was also credited with an assist. Bennett picked up an empty-net goal in the final seconds of the game. After the first couple of attempts to put the game away went wide, he snapped a shot from center ice to seal it. Seth Jones was credited with the assist. Both teams failed to take advantage of the power play. The Panthers went 0-for-3 and the Lightning went 0-for-5. The Panthers’ physicality made the Lightning’s power plays look like a penalty kill. Ironically, the Lightning at times played better when the Panthers had the man advantage, notably after Brandon Hagel had a five-minute major levied on him after he slammed Barkov into the boards. They had four shots during the penalty kill. Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky had another strong playoff performance saving all 19 shots on goal. Vasilevskiy returned to form, saving 21 of the 22 shots he faced. The Panthers’ defense backed up Bobrovsky with 20 blocked shots to the Lightning’s eight. The Battle of Florida heads to Sunrise for Games 3 and 4. Puck drop on Saturday will take place at 1 p.m. EDT.