The first line of Huberdeau – Barkov – Dadonov came storming in the opening minutes. Each were skating around like mad men, leaving no ice uncovered. The Panthers were putting on a sustainable amount of pressure, leaving the Bolts’ defenders skating in circles (over the first couple of minutes). Surely the Cats would be rewarded, right?
You got that right! Forward Jamie McGinn tipped home a shot from the point in the opening five minutes of the first period, to give the Cats a 1-0 lead. In the 1st period however, the Cats were hampered by numerous amounts of penalties, going Tampa Bay’s way (8 PP’s for the Bolts).