From the very start, the Lightning looked like the sharper team. Once they took the lead inside four minutes through Nikita Kucherov (23rd of the season), they never looked back.
The Florida Panthers really struggled to create offense throughout the rest of the first period, with just five shots on goal throughout the first.
There were some good chances, as Mike Hoffman was set up in the slot and Keith Yandle had a big chance with less than a second to go off the feed from Derick Brassard, but both efforts were denied by Louis Domingue.