Wennberg hat trick powers Panthers to 5-1 victory over Lightning

Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty ImagesAlex Wennberg racked up three goals in the Florida Panthers convincing 5-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in a penalty-filled affair at BB&T Center.

Wennberg opened the scoring 11:44 into the first period after playing give and go with Gustav Forsling. He used a dropping Luke Schenn as a screen and beat Andrei Vasilevskiy with a hard, perfectly placed, no-look wrister from the right circle. MacKenzie Weegar collected his 30th assist of the season on Wennberg’s career-high 14th goal, the first time he’s ever reached that plateau.

The Panthers upped the lead to two when they converted on an early second period power play. Aleksander Barkov gathered up a…