Panthers 4-2 Lightning
After an uneventful first period where both teams failed on their power plays, things didn't get going until the second when Anton Lundell put the Panthers on the board first.
Things started to get really chippy after the goal, especially when Aaron Ekblad was seen pummeling Brandon Hagel down to the ice by his neck, which didn't receive a penalty despite multiple referees looking at the hit the entire way.
For those who may not remember, Hagel was the same player who laid this hit on Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov in Game 1 of the series, for which he was suspended a game.
But the Lightning were out for revenge shortly after.
A few minutes later, the Lightning put up not one, but two goals in 11 seconds courtesy of Mitchell Chaffee and Erik Cernak, creating franchise history.
Finishing the period with Tampa up 2-1, both teams were equal in hits (13-13) this time around while both, yet again, failed on their respective power play opportunities.
Despite outshooting Tampa Bay 9-6, the Panthers couldn't find the net...until the third period when they had no problem with that.
3rd period
Possibly the one guy the Lightning didn't want to see score a goal thanks to his hit on Hagel earlier, Ekblad tied it all up with his goal off of a rebound with just 3:47 left in the game.
To add insult to injury, the Panthers thought of scoring two goals in 11 seconds themselves to re-take the lead the Lightning once had by doing the same.
Seth Jones put one home to put Florida up 3-2 with 3:36 left.
After failing miserably with the extra man, the Lightning let up the empty-net goal to Florida's Carter Verhaeghe, making it three goals in 2:07 at the end of the third period to take a 3-1 series lead.
Florida has outscored the Lightning 12-2 in their three wins.
The series now heads to Tampa Bay for Game 5 on Wednesday, April 30th.