SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Aaron Ekblad and Alex Wennberg each had a goal and an assist and the Florida Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 on Thursday night.
Frank Vatrano, Carter Verhaeghe and Brett Connolly also scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 19 saves.
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Braden Point scored twice for Tampa Bay, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves. The Lighting had won six straight.
The teams will meet again Saturday night in Sunrise.
With captain Steven Stamkos out of the lineup with a lower-body injury, Tampa Bay lacked its usual firepower while Florida was highly effective in its offensive end.