FLORIDA PANTHERS at TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
GAME 3
MAY 20, 2021
Amalie Arena – Tampa, Fla.
| FLORIDA PANTHERS | TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING |
| 6 | 5 |
[OVERTIME]
- Ryan Lomberg scored Florida’s first playoff overtime game-winning goal since Mike Hough scored 8:05 into overtime against the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on May 12, 1996.
- Florida’s six goals tonight ties their most goals in a playoff game in franchise history, marking the third time the Panthers have scored six goals in a playoff game (April 17 & 22, 1996 vs. BOS).
- Jonathan Huberdeau notched three assists, his second three-point game of the series (1-5-6). He is the fifth Panther to record three assists in a playoff game, and the third Panther to record multiple performances of at least three points in the same playoff series (Reilly Smith, April 14 & 17, 2016 vs. NYI, and Ray Sheppard, April 17 & 22, 1996 vs. BOS).
- Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all nine shots he faced in relief to earn the win. He has won each his last three playoff games played at TBL, dating back to April 10, 2019.
- Sam Bennett scored his first playoff goal as a Panther, his third point of the series (1-2-3).
- He has produced 18 points (7-11-18) over 12 total games as a Panther. He has amassed 22 points (12-10-22) in 32 career playoff games.
- Florida had three players record their first career playoff goals tonight (Forsling, Gudas, Lomberg).
- Radko Gudas and Gustav Forsling each scored their first career playoff goals, the second such instance two FLA defensemen scored their first career playoff goals in the same game (Mike Weaver and Jason Garrison, April 17, 2012 at NJD).
- Forsling’s goal at 16:53 of the third period was the latest tying goal in franchise history, besting the previous mark of 16:32 set by Marcel Goc in Game 7 of the 2012 Conference Quarterfinals vs. NJD (April 26, 2012).
- Gudas and Forsling each also added an assist, their first multi-point playoff games of their careers. They are also the third and fourth defensemen in Panthers history to record +3 ratings in a playoff game.
- Forsling’s assist was his first career playoff point.
- Gudas logged 8 hits and Ryan Lomberg registered 7 hits. The Panthers out-hit TBL 46-40.
- Alex Wennberg scored his first goal of the playoffs on the power play and added an assist (1-1-2), his second career multi-point playoff game.
- Patric Hornqvist tallied FLA’s second power-play goal of the game, his 26th career playoff goal, and added an assist (1-1-2) for his seventh career multi-point playoff game.
- Owen Tippett posted two assists, his second multi-point game of the series. He has posted four points (1-3-4) over the first three playoff games of his career.
- Aleksander Barkov recorded an assist. Barkov has recorded at least a point in each of his past six postseason games (2-5-7).
- Finishing the game 2-2 on the man advantage, Florida recorded a goal on each of their two power play opportunities.
- Tonight’s game marked the first time the Panthers have scored multiple power play goals in a playoff game since April 17, 2012 at NJD.
- Six different Panthers recorded a power-play point (Barkov, Hornqvist, Huberdeau, Tippett, Weegar, Wennberg).
PANTHERS POSTGAME QUOTES – MAY 20, 2021
Head Coach Joel Quenneville
“We had amazing stretches in this game, I think in the series as well with nothing to show for it. We were down 2 goals and had a good press there, I thought the guys still had a lot of enthusiasm. Couldn’t have been more proud about the way we competed…Now all of a sudden, the picture changes completely in a short amount of time. We’ve been working our tails off, it’s been an unbelievable series, the pace is unbelievable. Keep our composure and let’s be smart about it. I liked how Bob [goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky] came in and settled things down.”
“Lombo [forward Ryan Lomberg] hadn’t played in overtime, and Frankie [forward Frank Vatrano] and Acch [forward Noel Acciari] had hardly been on the ice…They had the faceoff on the other side, got the win on the right side, got a fortunate bounce in the neutral zone and great shot by Lombo. A lot of times in overtime it’s the guys that are least expected to score, come up large. The enthusiasm after that goal was as high as I’ve ever seen.”
Forward Ryan Lomberg
“We know how good of a team we are, we know what we’re capable of, there wasn’t any quit there for even a split second. Proud of the guys but put this one behind us and onto the next one.”
“Bob [goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky] came in and did what he’s capable of, he shut the door and allowed us the opportunity to come back. Proud of him and proud of the boys for doing that.”
“When you’re a hockey player, a kid growing up it’s what you dream about, the NHL playoffs. It’s more intense, it’s faster and there’s more emotions than I ever thought there would be. It’s a dream come true. We’re having fun but there’s an ultimate goal and we’re working towards that.”
“We were treating tonight like a must win, you don’t want to be down 3-0. Tremendously proud of this group, showed a lot of character.”
Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky
“I’m really proud of the guys. We were up, were down 5-3 after that second period, and we regrouped to get the W. It’s a big win for us but it’s only one game. We enjoy tonight and get ready for the next one.”
“I stayed focused, I do my preparation as I play. During the game I stay focused, I stay ready. It’s playoff hockey, anything could happen you just have to be ready for the guys. You have to make sure you do your best. If you get the chance to get in, do your job.”
“I think throughout the season this team has a tremendous ability to come back, it doesn’t matter how much of a deficit we have. It was one of those games where we get together and one at a time, we pulled a W. It’s a big win for us, we’re going to enjoy tonight and get ready to work on Saturday.”
Forward Jonathan Huberdeau
“It’s unbelievable, a lot of emotions tonight. A guy like [forward Ryan Lomberg], who brings emotion like that to the game and to our team. He’s always there on the ice, on the bench he’s getting the guys going, on the ice he never takes a shift off, hitting guys and he can play with the puck too…It’s well deserved by him and just a huge goal for us, we really needed that win and he made it happen.”
“We know [TBL goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy] is a good goalie but we can beat him, we’re good enough to beat him. Lot of games we’ve scored a lot of goals against him. Tonight again, six goals. We’ve just got to make it difficult for him and the puck will go in and that’s what we did tonight and we got the win.”
“Our mindset was, ‘we’re killing this penalty and after we’re going to win this game,’ and that’s what we did. The PK (penalty kill) came out really good, we didn’t give up anything on their power play, and after we just took over and get a little break at the goal line and big goal by Lomby [forward Ryan Lomberg].”
