This is a real gut-punch for the Florida Panthers.
With the Tampa Bay Lightning leading their second round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Panthers 1-0 coming into Thursday’s game, Florida needed to do something in Game 2 before the series swung back to their rival’s home rink. For nearly 60 minutes, the Panthers played the Lightning hard, and the score sat at 1-1 with seconds remaining until a possible overtime period to decide the winner.
That was until Ross Colton was left wide open in front of the Panthers net with four seconds remaining in the third period. In a complete defensive collapse, the Panthers allowed the Lightning to capitalize on Nikita Kucherov’s backwards pass to Colton, who buried the shot top shelf for the 2-1 game winner.
