SUNRISE — Just when it looked like the Florida Panthers looked like they were going to blow Tampa Bay out on Tuesday, the Lightning fought back.
Florida took a 2-0 lead into the second period, but a pair of quick goals from the Lightning tied things up.
The score stayed tied until Carter Verhaeghe played playoff hero once more.
Verhaeghe got his 18th playoff goal with the Panthers, scoring at 2:59 of overtime to lift the Panthers to a 3-2 win.
The Panthers have a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series as it heads to Tampa for Game 3 on Thursday.
Tampa Bay has now lost 10 of its past 11 playoff overtime games.
Sam Bennett had a hand in both of Florida’s first-period goals but he was knocked out of the game when he was stuck by a hard shot from teammate Brandon Montour early in the second.
Bennett got things going at 6:16 of the first, backhanding a soft rebound from Matthew Tkachuk — on a play Bennett got started — and putting it past Andrei Vasilevskiy.
At 15:12, Vladimir Tarasenko took a feed from Bennett and scored on the power play to make it 2-0.
Both Sergei Bobrovsky and Andrei Vasilevskiy were fantastic as the two goalies made one big save after another to keep it a 2-2 game.
Bobrovsky’s diving save with the back of his forearm to stop Matt Dumba late in the second period will be replayed for years when playoff coverage comes up.
SERGEI BOBROVSKY ARE YOU SERIOUS pic.twitter.com/v8vbIylTcT
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) April 24, 2024
1. Sergei Bobrovsky, Florida
2. Carter Verhaeghe, Florida
3. Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay
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