Sunrise, FL. – Carter Verhaeghe is a dog. Sergei Bobrovsky is a beast.
Verhaeghe — making some history of his own — lifted a backhander just under the crossbar 2:59 into overtime, and the Florida Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 on Tuesday night for a 2-0 lead in their NHL first-round playoff series.
Press rewind, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped a shot with his mask, then made a diving, no-look save that they’ll remember in Florida for a long time.
“Honestly, it could’ve been anyone,” said Verhaeghe, who’s winner came on a sweet dish from linemate Anton Lundell. “Any time that we go to OT, we’re pretty confident. It can go any way. At the end of the day, it’s one shot and someone’s got to make a play eventually.”
Helping the Panthers win their 11th straight overtime game in the playoffs, Verhaeghe moved into a tie for third place on the NHL’s all-time overtime playoff goals list with five.
Only Hall of Famers Maurice Richard (6) and Joe Sakic (8) have scored more.
Brayden Point and Steven Stamkos scored for Tampa Bay, which got two assists from Victor Hedman. Vasilevskiy stopped 34 shots, matching Bobrovsky stop-for-stop for long stretches of what seemed like a goaltending duel for much of the night.
Game 3 is Thursday in Tampa.
Photo/BigHeadHockey/X
