Panthers 1, Lightning 0
SUNRISE, Fla. -- Defenseman Aaron Ekblad scored with just 20.2 seconds remaining in the third period, and goalie Roberto Luongo earned his 69th career shutout as the Florida Panthers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 1-0 on Monday night at the BB&T Center.
Ekblad scored in a mad scramble in front of the Tampa goal. Left winger Jonathan Huberdeau earned an assist.
It was just the second time in the past nine meetings at the BB&T Center that the Panthers have beaten Tampa.
But this game was in stark contrast to the contest played in Tampa on Saturday, when the Panthers beat the Lightning in a high-scoring 5-4 shootout.
On Monday, Luongo, who made 39 saves, earned career win No. 407, tying Glenn Hall for eighth place on the NHL victories list.
Luongo outplayed Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, a first-round pick in 2012 who is in just his second year in the NHL.
Vasilevskiy, who has played for his native Russia in the World Championships and also won one game in last season's Stanley Cup Finals, stopped 18 Panthers shots.
The Panthers win was joyous for Gerard Gallant, who celebrated his 100th game coaching Florida. His Panthers have won just three of their past nine games, going 3-4-2 during that span.
Tampa has also been slumping. Even with the win, Tampa has won just three of its past 12 games, going 3-7-2 during that span.
During a scoreless first period, Tampa got the better of Florida, outshooting the Panthers 13-4. Both teams went 0-for-1 on power-play opportunities. Florida went 14:54 without a shot on goal.
The second period was also scoreless. This time, Tampa, which had two power plays, outshot the Panthers, who had one power-play chance.
NOTES: Panthers C Aleksander Barkov (broken hand) came back for the first time since blocking a shot on Oct. 22. ... Panthers D Dmitry Kulikov, who suffered a lower-body injury on Saturday, is expected to miss a few games. He is third on the team in blocks and takeaways. ... Panthers D Steven Kampfer, usually a healthy scratch, played just his second game this season, replacing Kulikov. ... Tampa rested starting G Ben Bishop. ... Lightning LW Ondrej Palat (ankle) is out three to six weeks. ... Tampa called up RW Mike Blunden and C Jonathan Marchessault from Syracuse of the AHL. Both were immediately inserted into the lineup. ... Tampa scratched C Tyler Johnson (unspecified injury), C Cedric Paquette (ankle) and LW Jonathan Drouin (lower body). ... Florida had two healthy scratches: LWs Shawn Thornton and Garrett Wilson.