Lightning blow out Panthers to move within 1 win of Round 2

Nikita Kucherov and Alex Killorn collected four points apiece as the Tampa Bay Lightning thumped the Florida Panthers 6-2 in Game 4 to take a 3-1 lead in their first-round series Saturday.

Killorn notched two goals and two assists, while Kucherov scored once and added three helpers. Anthony Cirelli, Yanni Gourde, and Ondrej Palat also talled for Tampa Bay. Jonathan Huberdeau and Carter Verhaeghe netted markers for Florida.

Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy turned aside 39 of the 41 shots he faced. Panthers netminder Chris Driedger stopped 11 of 12 after relieving Sergei Bobrovsky, who gave up five goals on 14 shots.

Kucherov and teammate Mikhail Sergachev both left the game due to injuries in the third period following hits by Florida forwards Anthony Duclair and Patric Hornqvist, respectively.

Game 5 is scheduled for Monday at 8 p.m. ET.

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