SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — The Panthers beat their Florida rivals for the first time in nearly two years.
Mike Hoffman had his second career hat trick to help Florida beat Tampa Bay 4-3 on Saturday night to split an opening home-and-home series.
Noel Acciari also scored and Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves for his first victory with the Panthers. Joel Quenneville also won for first time as coach of the Panthers. On Thursday night in Tampa, the Lightning beat the Panthers 5-2.
The win was the first for the Panthers in eight games against the Lightning since a 5-4 victory on Oct.