Lightning 2 – Panthers 3 | The Lightning in difficulty

The Tampa Bay Lightning didn’t win two straight Stanley Cups or make four Finals in eight years by chance. It is an organization that knows how to identify – and retain – talent.

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Carter Verhaeghe is a rare talented player who has slipped through the fingers of this organization, and he called it home in the most brutal way to his former organization.

Verhaeghe scored the winning goal in overtime to allow the Panthers to defeat the Lightning 3-2 on Tuesday to take a 2-0 lead in the first round duel between the two Florida rivals.

Just 2:58 into overtime, Verhaeghe accepted a pass from Anton Lundell before using patience to force Andrei Vasilevskiy onto his stomach. Despite the restricted angle, Verhaeghe scored what is already the fifth winning goal of his career in playoff overtime, at his 47^e match. So here he is tied for third place in NHL history in this regard, with only Joe Sakic and Maurice Richard ahead of him. It’s something, Mario Lemieux would say, although Richard and Sakic may have already said it too, who knows?

Verhaeghe, therefore, left the Lightning as a free agent in the fall of 2020, looking for a real chance in the NHL, he who was a victim of depth in Tampa. The Ontarian has just reached 70 points for the second season in a row.

And for those who only have eyes for the Canadian, Verhaeghe’s successes are also a reminder that the means to accelerate the recovery of a team are numerous. By force of circumstances, we often talk about the gifts that Jeff Gorton received in New York when Artemi Panarin, Jacob Trouba and Adam Fox all wanted to join the Rangers.

The Panthers, for their part, have been grabbing players left and right. Climate and low taxes are always cited, but the Panthers also haven’t bought one star after another to form their core.

Verhaeghe came to Florida with a simple two-year contract at $1 million per season. Gustav Forsling, colossally shorthanded on Tuesday, was claimed on waivers. Sam Bennett – author of a goal and an assist before leaving the match with an injury – was acquired from the Flames, who considered they had taken a tour of the garden with him. Brandon Montour is another one of those abandoned projects elsewhere, and the Panthers only had one third-round pick to give up to the Sabres.

This team is certainly carried by Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk, but its professional recruiting department has multiplied the discoveries which helped it reach the final last year. And to place the Lightning in a perilous situation.

Sensational goalkeepers

That said, if the 19,000 fans present at the arena which changes its name every six months were entitled to an extension, it is a lot, a lot thanks to the two goalkeepers. Vasilevskiy’s night is the most impressive on paper, due to his 34 saves. But what his Panthers rival, Sergei Bobrovsky, didn’t have in quantity, he had in quality.

Each of the two Russians had their moment of glory. That of Vasilevskiy, in the second period, when he had to block a deflected shot and two returns from the skilled Sam Reinhart and Aleksander Barkov. Three shots, three saves, all in the space of two seconds.

Bobrovsky, for his part, offered himself one of those stops that you will see again for years in compilations. If Vasilevskiy’s saves were a matter of proper positioning, Bobrovsky’s was a proof of combativeness and athleticism.

In teams populated by offensive stars, the two goalkeepers each recalled their importance. Bobrovsky was, in 2019, one of those superstars that the Panthers seem to attract more easily than other clubs. But his colossal contract of 7 years and 70 million dollars has long been seen as a burden. However, in the playoffs, since the spring of 2023, he has a record of 14-6 and an efficiency of .915.

For his part, Vasilevskiy above all demonstrated his value to the Lightning by his absence at the start of the calendar. Should we remember that Tampa had a very ordinary 9-6-5 record when he returned to the game?

On Tuesday, Vasilevskiy did enough to allow his team to get back into a match they started 20 minutes late.

However, it was not enough, and here the Lightning find themselves behind 0-2, and in danger of losing a third series in a row, going back to the 2022 final. It continues Thursday evening, in Tampa.