SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Pontus Holmberg scored with 7.3 seconds left in the first period to give Tampa Bay the lead for good, Nikita Kucherov scored twice and the Lightning beat the Florida Panthers 4-2 in another shootout between Sunshine State rivals.
Jake Guentzel also scored for Tampa Bay, which has won three straight. With 56 seconds left in the game, Kucherov scored an empty-net goal.
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Brad Marchand and Etu Losstarinen scored for the Panthers, who lost for just the second time in their past seven games. Florida State went 1-for-11 on the power play.
Both teams have set season highs in penalty minutes so far. Tampa Bay finished with 87 points and Florida finished with 49 points. The Lightning scored 33 points against Vancouver on Nov. 16; the Panthers scored 20 points against Edmonton on Nov. 22.
And we’re reminded that, as has been the case forever, these teams simply don’t like each other.
Tampa Bay’s Scott Sabourin, who played a starring role in a preseason game that saw more than 300 penalty minutes, picked up two minors and misconduct early in the third quarter for roughing and slashing the Panthers’ Niko Mikkola. Sabourin, who was called up earlier in the day, has played in three of the Chargers’ nine games this season against Florida State.
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Those penalties against Sabourin came about eight minutes after a timeout late in the second quarter, which saw referees call 13 roughing penalties, seven against Tampa Bay and six against Florida. During one stoppage, the Chargers had six players in the box.
Sabourin fouled out again with 33 seconds left as part of a 26-point night for Tampa Bay.
Next
Lightning: Host Montreal on Sunday.
Panthers: Host Washington on Monday night.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
