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Tuesday's NHL: Lightning strike first, beat Panthers 4-1 in Game 1

Associated Press

Sunrise, Fla. — Pierre-Edouard Bellemare scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period, Andrei Vasilevskiy remained red-hot with 34 saves and the Tampa Bay Lightning topped the Florida Panthers 4-1 in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference semifinal series Tuesday night.

Nikita Kucherov and Corey Perry each had a goal and an assist, and Ross Colton also scored for the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions, who went ahead 1-0 against their in-state rivals for the second consecutive season.

Time and again, Vasilevskiy slammed the door on Florida.