National Hockey League
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Tampa Bay 5, Florida 4
When: 7:30 PM ET, Thursday, March 13, 2014
Where: Tampa Bay Times Forum, Tampa, Florida
Referees: Tom Kowal, Tim Peel
Linesmen: Greg Devorski, Brad Kovachik
Attendance: 18324

Lightning 5, Panthers 4: Captain Steven Stamkos scored his first goal in four games since returning from a broken tibia and added an assist as Tampa Bay held off visiting Florida to snap a five-game winless streak.

Ryan Callahan and Tyler Johnson collected second-period goals to snap a 2-2 tie and Valtteri Filppula added three assists for the Lightning, who were 0-3-2 in their previous five contests. Defensemen Sami Salo and Mike Kostka also scored in the first period and Ben Bishop turned aside 23 shots for his first victory in his last five starts.

Quinton Howden recorded his first career goal while Tomas Fleischmann, Scottie Upshall and Brandon Pirri also scored for the Panthers, who have lost eight of their last 10 contests. Upshall tallied with 1:05 left in the game, Pirri’s goal with 26.5 seconds to go pulled Florida within a goal and Dan Ellis made 23 saves.

Fleischmann scored from the slot 1:44 into the contest on the power play and Salo answered with a blast from the left point a little less than four minutes later. Howden beat Bishop with a wrist shot from the bottom of the left circle 12 seconds later, but Kostka’s low shot from the top of the left circle tied it at 8:18 of the first period.

Callahan went to the net to knock home Ondrej Palat’s pass and give the Lightning the lead 12:04 into the middle session. Johnson’s shot caromed in off Florida captain Ed Jovanovski’s skate with 67 seconds left in the second and Stamkos one-timed Filppula’s cross-ice pass on the power play 10:47 into the third period for a 5-2 advantage.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Palat has three goals and three assists with a plus-4 rating over his last three games. … Florida, which came into the game last in the league on the power play, scored its fourth with the man advantage in the last four outings. … Tampa Bay D Radko Gudas returned to the lineup after missing the last four games with a lower-body injury and logged 19:43 of ice time.
Top Game Performances
 
Florida   Tampa Bay
Brandon Pirri 2 Points Valtteri Filppula 3
Brandon Pirri 1 Goals Steven Stamkos 1
Nick Bjugstad 2 Assists Valtteri Filppula 3
Tomas Fleischmann 1 Power Play Goals Steven Stamkos 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Dan Ellis .821 Save Percentage Ben Bishop .852
Dan Ellis 23 Saves Ben Bishop 23
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Florida 27 4 1-2 3-4 8 19
Tampa Bay 28 5 1-4 1-2 4 27
Upcoming Games
  • Tampa Bay will play their next game at home against New Jersey. The Lightning have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .562 after a loss.
  • Florida will play their next game at home against New Jersey. The Panthers have a W/L % of .320 after a win and .390 after a loss.