FLORIDA PANTHERS at TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
APRIL 17, 2021
Amalie Arena – Tampa, Fla.
| FLORIDA PANTHERS | TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING |
| 5 | 3 |
- The Panthers improved to 28-12-5, completing their longest road trip of the season. The Cats earned at least a point in each of their past three games (2-0-1) of the road trip.
- Sam Bennett recorded two assists, becoming the third Panther this season to record multiple points in their FLA debut. Eetu Luostarinen and Patric Hornqvist each posted a goal and an assist in their debuts Jan. 17 vs. CHI.
- Brandon Montour scored his first goal as a Panther and tied for the team lead with a +3 rating.
- Jonathan Huberdeau tallied his 15th goal of the season, extending his point streak to three games (1-2-3).
- Aleksander Barkov scored his fifth power-play goal of the season, third-most on FLA. He has tallied three goals in his past four games and six goals over his past seven games.
- Barkov now leads FLA with 19 goals.
- Anthony Duclair scored a goal for the second consecutive game. He has produced a point in each of his past five games played (3-2-5).
- Frank Vatrano tallied his 15th goal of the season. He has scored two goals over his past three games.
- Vatrano’s goal was his team-leading sixth game-winning goal of the season. His six GWG’s are tied for fifth-most in the NHL.
- Nikita Gusev notched an assist, his first point as a Panther.
- Markus Nutivaara notched an assist, extending his assist streak to three games (0-4-4).
- Radko Gudas posted his 100th NHL assist and tied for the team lead with five hits.
- MacKenzie Weegar led FLA with 25:58 TOI.
- 10 Panthers recorded at least one point, and four different Cats (Montour, Huberdeau, Bennet and Duclair) earned +3 ratings.
- 12 different Panthers registered multiple shots on goal.
PANTHERS POSTGAME QUOTES – APRIL 17, 2021
Head Coach Joel Quenneville
“I thought we did a lot of good things…I thought we had a good second period, in the first period we were fortunate to have the lead. Bob [goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky] made some good saves and slowed their momentum.”
“We were generating, off the rush or in-zone, we had some nice quick transitional plays. Guys made some pretty handy plays with the puck as well.”
“You’ll take that (three out of a possible four points against TBL) any day of the week, any day of the year. We’re happy to go home, it’s been a long trip.”
“I thought [forward Sam Bennett] brought a real good effort in the middle of the ice and a physical presence, at the net and made some plays. That line had a lot of energy in all zones…Nice way to start for him and the win helps as well.”
Forward Sam Bennett
“That was a lot of fun. We’ve got a really good team here and a great group of guys. It definitely feels good to get a win in my first game (with FLA).”
“I was so excited to play with [forwards Jonathan Huberdeau and Anthony Duclair]. They’re so talented, so skilled. I don’t even think I realized how good they are until I actually got to play with them. We started to build a little bit of chemistry there, it was a lot of fun playing with them.”
“This is a big rivalry between Tampa and Florida. It was an intense game. Those are two good teams battling out there so definitely felt the compete level and the battle intensity.”
Defenseman Markus Nutivaara
“It was a fun game, a lot of emotions. Two good teams battling for points. I love to play these games.”
“[Defenseman Brandon Montour] moves well he moves with the puck, I like him. I’ve got nothing bad to say. I feel good, just got to keep the puck moving and keep on getting better.”
“You want to get those early goals. [TBL goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy] is a good goalie. We’ve just got to make it hard for him. Of course, we’ve got good goalies too, so it’s a good battle.”
