SUNRISE, Fla. — The Florida Panthers pulled off a third-period stunner on April 29, 2025, erasing a deficit with two goals in a jaw-dropping 11 seconds to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2 in Game 4 of their Stanley Cup Playoff series. The win, in front of a roaring crowd at Amerant Bank Arena, handed the Panthers a commanding 3-1 lead in the first-round matchup.
The game started as a grind. Tampa Bay struck first when Steven Stamkos fired a one-timer past Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky at 12:34 of the opening period, giving the Lightning a 1-0 edge. Florida answered in the second, with Sam Reinhart roofing a power-play goal at 6:22 to knot the score. But the Lightning weren’t done. Brayden Point slipped one through Bobrovsky’s pads at 15:47, restoring Tampa’s lead heading into the final frame.
Then came the third period, where the Panthers flipped the script. Trailing 2-1, Florida’s Carter Verhaeghe buried a wrist shot at 8:04 to tie it up. Just 11 seconds later, Matthew Tkachuk redirected a Dmitry Kulikov shot, stunning Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy and sending the arena into a frenzy. The crowd barely had time to catch its breath before Evan Rodrigues sealed the deal with an empty-netter at 19:08, locking in the 4-2 final.
Bobrovsky stopped 26 of 28 shots for Florida, while Vasilevskiy turned away 24 of 27 for Tampa. The Panthers went 1-for-3 on the power play; the Lightning were 0-for-2. Florida’s quick-strike offense in the third marked the fastest two goals in their playoff history, a record that left Tampa reeling.
The series now shifts back to Tampa for Game 5 on May 1, 2025, with the Panthers one win from advancing. Florida’s regular-season record against the Lightning was 2-1-0, and they’ve carried that edge into the postseason. Tampa Bay, the 2019-20 and 2020-21 Stanley Cup champs, faces elimination after dropping three straight games.
Penalties totaled eight for the game, with Florida’s four minors matching Tampa’s. Hits were close—27 for the Panthers, 25 for the Lightning. Faceoffs tilted slightly in Florida’s favor, winning 52% to Tampa’s 48%. Neither team reported injuries post-game, though Tampa’s coaching staff hinted at lineup tweaks for Game 5.
Attendance was logged at 19,428, the second sellout of the series. The NHL’s official box score confirmed no video reviews altered the outcome, and all goals stood as called on the ice.