Lomberg's OT winner caps comeback as Panthers narrow series deficit with Lightning
Florida erases Tampa's 2-goal lead in final frame, kills OT penalty before winner
On the brink of falling into a deep hole against the reigning Stanley Cup champions, the Florida Panthers refused to concede.
The Panthers cut the Lightning's lead to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series by scoring twice in the third period to overcome a two-goal deficit, then killing off a penalty at the start overtime and winning it.
Radko Gudas gained possession off a faceoff deep in his own zone and flicked the puck ahead to Lomberg, who barreled in on goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy.
"I don't remember too much," Lomberg said. "Honestly, I kind of knew what I was going to do ahead of time and obviously it worked out pretty well."
WATCH | Lomberg's OT winner narrows Panthers' series deficit:
The Lightning took a 5-3 lead into the final period. But the defending champions couldn't put away the Panthers, yielding a power-play goal to Patric Hornqvist early in the third and Gustav Forsling's equalizer with 3:07 remaining.
Game 4 is Saturday at Amalie Arena.
"They pushed hard. ... We kind of sat back a little bit too much I thought" in the third period," said Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman, who had three assists. "We were kind of protecting the lead and not playing to our strengths."
Brayden Point's power-play goal in the second period snapped a 3-3 tie less than two minutes after Alex Wennberg scored on the power play for the Panthers, who led 2-0 after Sam Bennett and Gudas solved Vasilevskiy in the first 7:05 of the opening period.
Once the Lightning got started, it didn't take long to erase their early deficit.
Anthony Cirelli, Ross Colton and Steven Stamkos scored in the first nine minutes of the second period. Alex Killorn added a power-play goal four minutes after Point put Tampa Bay ahead 4-3 off a feed from Nikita Kucherov.
Five goals in a single period were franchise playoff record for the Lightning.
Two nights after stopping 32 of 33 shots to win Game 2 on the road, Vasilevskiy finished with 41 saves in Tampa Bay's first home playoff game in more than two years. The Lightning had been 28-0-0 when leading after two periods this season, including the playoffs.
Goalie Chris Driedger made his second career postseason start for Florida. Sergei Bobrovsky, a 5-4 loser in Game 1, replaced him at the start of the third period and stopped all nine shots he faced for the victory.
"I'm really proud of the guys. We were down 5-3 after that second period and we get the W," Bobrovsky said. "It's a big win for us, but it's only one game. We enjoy it tonight and get ready for the next one."
Lightning coach Jon Cooper expects his team to bounce back in Game 4.
"I don't think anybody expected this to be a sweep," Cooper said. "I think people expect this to be a really good series, and it has been."
WATCH | Stanley Cup Playoff preview: Central Division:
