Old Rangers Nemesis Knocked Out From Playoffs

The Tampa Bay Lightning create nothing but intra cloud lightning flashes in Monday night's game against the Florida Panthers. The Florida Panthers score their first two goals in the second period until the Lightning strike with one goal in the second period. What first appears to be a fight to the death, turned into an unpredictable glorious mount for the Florida Panthers as they continue to score goals until the end of the third period and leave the Lightning appalled.

Despite winning three games in a row on the road, the Tampa Bay Lightning fail to deliver the same energy in this game and give the Florida Panthers the lead for good as they score two goals in the third period on an empty net just in time for the buzzer.

Post game, the Lightning coach, Jon Cooper, was interviewed, and he had a lot to say about the goalies in this game. The coach stated that there is always something that is tweaked when it comes to goals and while that is great, he stated that he feels an injustice was done on Monday night's game regarding the goalies and the calls the refs made in reference to a net front battle. Cooper went on to say that the rules seemed to have made an exception for the Florida Panther's goalie and that they «Might as well wear skirts then» if those exceptions will be made. However, upon review of the footage for the game last night, it seems that even if the refs had made different calls, the Lightning would still have not been able to catch up to the Florida Panthers' momentum and would have still plummeted.

Maybe next time, Tampa Bay Lightning, maybe next time. The Florida Panthers advance and fans in the arena last night made it clear that victory tasted so sweet. Can the Florida Panthers keep up this energy for the games that follow? Only time will tell.