With the Lightning trailing 1-0 late in the second period, Nikita Kucherov found a waiting Jake Guentzel at the far left side of the offensive blueline. Guentzel dished to Point for a short spree alone on Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, but the goalie was there for the save with two minutes left in the middle frame.

5: The Panthers were a perfect 5 for 5 on the penalty kill on Thursday, holding the Lightning to just two shots on goal when they were on the power play. Overall in the series, Florida is 7 for 8 on the penalty and has allowed just six total shots on goal when playing down a man.

In a game in which the story line going in was the return of Matthew Tkachuk (who did not disappoint), the story within the story was just how many things could have possibly gone wrong for the Tampa Bay Lightning in its playoff opener against the Florida Panthers.