Action-packed Panthers vs Lightning rivalry matchup in Sunrise

Florida fell 4-2 at Amerant Bank Arena and moved to 20-15-2, after winning five of its previous six. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 21 shots, but the Panthers could not finish the comeback.

Eetu Luostarinen opened the scoring at 5:37 of the first period, digging at a loose puck in the crease. Two neutral-zone turnovers later, Florida was staring at back-to-back breakaways and a 2-1 deficit.

The rivalry also boiled over, with a line brawl in the second and the Tampa Bay penalty box looking packed for long stretches. The constant stoppages wrecked Florida's flow, and every whistle felt like a momentum reset.

Jake Guentzel tied it shorthanded at 13:05, and Pontus Holmberg scored with eight seconds left in the period. Nikita Kucherov scored twice, while Brad Marchand kept Florida close with a second-period power-play goal.

Florida's best push came in the third, but Tampa's penalty kill held firm during a six-minute stretch of three Panther power plays. The Panthers generated shots, yet rebounds vanished before second chances could form.

From the press level, you could feel the crowd tense whenever Florida tried to force one more pass through traffic.

At five-on-five, the Panthers forecheck created pockets of pressure, but exits were not clean enough to keep Tampa pinned. When the Lightning broke out, Florida's gaps stretched and the middle lane opened.

Bobrovsky gave Florida a chance late, tracking pucks through screens and holding the post when plays collapsed. The equalizer never arrived, and an empty-netter finished the night.

Tampa has taken two of the first three meetings, both in Sunrise, which is a hard pill for Florida to swallow. The last regular-season game is Feb. 5 in Tampa, and the Panthers need cleaner decisions to write a better ending.