SUNRISE — Aaron Ekblad tied the game for the Florida Panthers. A minute later, he didn’t.
The veteran defender had a tying goal taken off the board midway through the third period, but he then scored the game-tying goal for real with 3:47 left in the third period.
“He was everywhere this game,” Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said. “He was doing the right things. He was shooting the puck, he was always up in the rush. So a well-deserved goal at the end. Obviously, one got taken away by offside, but a very well-deserved goal.”
Eleven seconds later, the Panthers took a 3-2 lead when Seth Jones got a bouncing puck past Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, sending Amerant Bank Arena into delirium. The Panthers won Monday’s game 4-2 and take a 3-1 series lead into Wednesday’s Game 5 with a chance to clinch the series at Amalie Arena in Tampa.
“It was one of the loudest moments for sure,” Barkov said about the crowd’s reaction after Jones’ goal.
Both teams played strong defense for the first period and half of the game, with few shots on goal allowed. Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling broke up a Nikita Kucherov breakaway attempt in the first period but was called for slashing in the process.
Luckily for the Panthers, their penalty-kill unit continued its hot streak, fending off the power play. Florida has killed 14 of 15 power plays so far this series — including a nearly five-minute power play after Niko Mikkola received a five-minute major and a game misconduct early in the third period after hitting an already-down Zemgus Girgensons against the boards.
“A lot of guys stepped up, did a job, made some big saves when they needed to,” Jones said. “But we try to keep the pressure on them. Our PK has been pretty solid this whole series. We want to force them to make plays under pressure.”
Many of Florida’s early chances ended with shots that flew high or wide of the net, but the Panthers started to get better opportunities as the second period wore on.
After nearly 30 minutes of scoreless gameplay, the Panthers finally broke through on a pass from Brad Marchand to Anton Lundell in front of Vasilevskiy, which the young center sent past the veteran goalie. Marchand set the goal up, racing down the ice to prevent an icing call against Florida before dishing the pass to Lundell.
“Brad and (Eetu Luostarinen) did a great job to be able to get the puck, and they found me in front of the net and had a good chance,” Lundell said.
The Panthers’ lead was short-lived, as Mitchell Chafee tied the game up 12:21 into the second period, and 11 seconds later, Erik Cernak gave Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead with a wrist shot past Sergei Bobrovsky.
The Lightning appeared to have control of the game until Ekblad scored the tying goal. Jones put the Panthers ahead with the game-winning goal, and Carter Verhaeghe scored an empty-netter to seal the game.
“It started with the (penalty) kill, that was such an important, important piece of the game,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “But keeping that belief, you come out of it and you think something’s good is going to happen.”
- Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) during game 4 against Tampa Bay Lightning of the Eastern Conference at Amerant Bank Aren)a in Sunrise on Monday April 28, 2025. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Panther fans during Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers game 4 of the Eastern Conference at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Monday April 28, 2025. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Florida Panthers Sam Reinhart during game 4 against Tampa Bay Lightning of the Eastern Conference at Amerant Bank Aren)a in Sunrise on Monday April 28, 2025. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Florida Panthers Carter Verhaeghe during game 4 against Tampa Bay Lightning of the Eastern Conference at Amerant Bank Aren)a in Sunrise on Monday April 28, 2025. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov (16) during game 4 against Tampa Bay Lightning of the Eastern Conference at Amerant Bank Aren)a in Sunrise on Monday April 28, 2025. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) during game 4 against Tampa Bay Lightning of the Eastern Conference at Amerant Bank Aren)a in Sunrise on Monday April 28, 2025. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Pre game warm up as Florida Panthers takes on the Tampa Bay Lightning in game 4 of the Eastern Conference at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Monday April 28, 2025. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Pre game warm up as Florida Panthers takes on the Tampa Bay Lightning in game 4 of the Eastern Conference at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Monday April 28, 2025. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Panther fans during Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers game 4 of the Eastern Conference at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Monday April 28, 2025. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Originally Published: April 28, 2025 at 9:42 PM EDT
