Panthers use short-handed goals to beat Lightning 4-2 in opener of home-and-home set

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Florida Panthers center Eetu Luostarinen, left, scores against Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

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Florida Panthers left wing A.J. Greer (10) celebrates after his goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning with defenseman Niko Mikkola (77) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

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Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) makes a pad-save on a deflection by Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) during the first period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

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Florida Panthers center Eetu Luostarinen, right, celebrates after his goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning with defenseman Aaron Ekblad (5) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

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Florida Panthers goaltender Spencer Knight, left, makes a save on a deflection by Tampa Bay Lightning center Anthony Cirelli (71) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

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Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov (86) skates ahead of Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov (16) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

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Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett (9) carries the puck past Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Nick Paul (20) during the first period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

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Florida Panthers center Sam Reinhart (13) celebrates with the bench after his goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the first period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

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Florida Panthers center Sam Reinhart (13) shoots in front of Tampa Bay Lightning center Zemgus Girgensons (28) during the first period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

By ERIK ERLENDSSON

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A.J. Greer and Eetu Luostarinen scored short-handed goals 42 seconds apart in the second period to help the Florida Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2 on Sunday to open a home-and-home series.

The teams will play again Monday night at Florida.

Sam Reinhart scored twice, the second into an empty net, and Spencer Knight stopped 19 shots for Stanley Cup champion Florida. The Panthers have won four consecutive games.

Nick Paul and Brayden Point scored for Tampa Bay, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 21 saves, The Lightning had won four in a row.

With Tampa Bay on a power play midway through the second, Nikita Kucherov fanned on an entry play, with Greer taking the puck and eventually scoring for a 2-1 lead. On the next shift, Luostarinen scored on a breakaway.

Takeaways

Panthers: Florida leads the league with 10 short-handed goals, six more than any other team. The Panthers had two short-handed goals in a game for the eighth time in franchise history.

Lightning: Brayden Point has points in eight consecutive games and has 18 goals in his past 20 games.

Key moment

On the shift after Greer gave the Panthers the 2-1 lead in the second, Luostarinen stripped Anthony Cirelli of the puck and skated in on a breakaway and beat Vasilevskiy for another short-handed goal.

Key stat

Florida has won four consecutive games in Tampa and improved to 7-2-2 at Amalie Arena in the past nine regular-season games.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl