The Florida Panthers laced them up at home again this evening, stunning the Tampa Bay Lightning, who seemed to be in control much of the contest, by a score of 4-2 to take a 3-1 lead in the series. Brandon Hagel returned to the Lightning’s lineup after serving a well-deserved one-game suspension for blindsiding Aleksander Barkov miles away from the puck in the corner during Game 2. The first period was filled with both teams vying for dominance, with neither side giving an inch. Roughly halfway through the first period, the shot totals favored Tampa Bay 4-2. Such a low-event first period is typically out of character for the otherwise feisty teams, especially during these postseason showdowns aptly titled “The Battle of Florida”. The first period ended without incident; the shot totals at the end of the period were dead even at 6-6. Scoreless through twenty. pic.twitter.com/RP1YwUCA6A — x – Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) April 28, 2025 The second period started much the same way that the first ended – eventless. With roughly 16 minutes remaining in the second frame, the Panthers headed to the power play for just the second time of the evening. This man advantage opportunity failed to convert as well, as the Lightning’s penalty killing units stood tall yet again, only allowing the Panthers a single shot on goal during the kill. Both teams traded struggles with defensive zone escapes and offensive zone entries; at the midway point of the second period, the shot totals favored the Panthers, 10-7. On the Panthers’ 11th shot of the game, Anton Lundell finally beat Andrei Vasilevskiy with a beauty of a netfront chance from Brad Marchand, bringing the Panthers ahead 1-0. Aaron Ekblad welcomed Hagel back to action with a monster (re: less-than-clean) hit (re: elbow to the head) during a battle for the puck on the boards. No penalty was assessed on the play, and Hagel left the ice to raucous applause courtesy of the home crowd. Almost immediately after this, however, the Lightning knotted the game up at 1-1. Not to be outdone by themselves, the Lightning struck again, scoring just seconds later on their next shot to bring the score to 2-1. Related: How the NHL Can Fix the Flawed Jack Adams Award In the opening seconds of the third period, Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola cross-checked a defenseless Zemgus Girgensons from behind while he was on his knees against the boards, sending the Lightning back to the power play. Mikkola was assessed a five-minute game misconduct penalty and was ejected from the game. With seven seconds left on the long power play, Brayden Point high-sticked Eetu Luostarinen, sending the Panthers to a truncated power play with around 15 minutes left in the game. Ekblad converted with a deftly-placed shot over Vasilevskiy’s shoulder from the faceoff circle, knotting the game back up at 2-2. The goal was almost immediately overturned due to Sam Bennett entering the zone offside. With about four minutes remaining in the game, Ekblad tied the game up yet again. His goal stuck this time. Not to be outdone, Seth Jones netted yet another goal, pulling the Panthers ahead 3-2. Carter Verhaeghe joined in on the goalscoring frenzy moments later with an empty net goal, further distancing the Panthers from the Lightning by a margin of 4-2. Jones and Ekblad’s 11-second goalscoring surge, the fastest in Panthers’ playoff history, was more than enough to seal the deal, however, as the Panthers head to Tampa Bay with a 3-1 lead in the series.