Lightning’s inability to capitalize on five-minute power play in Game 4 could come back to haunt them

A huge turning point happened in Game 4 of this postseason edition of The Battle of Florida, and it might cost a team a chance at moving on to the second round.

On Monday night, the Tampa Bay Lightning were on a path to evening up their first-round series against the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on the road. Leading 2-1 in the third period, the Lightning were granted a glorious opportunity to pad the lead thanks to a major power play following Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola getting five and a game for boarding Zemgus Girgensons.

However, the Lightning did almost nothing. Their vaunted power-play unit, with names like Victor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov, registered just one shot on goal in the five minutes on the man advantage.

It ended up costing them. Florida rode the momentum of killing off the penalty to score three in a row in the third to steal a 4-2 win, grabbing a 3-1 series lead.

On Tuesday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk explain why missing out on a glorious chance to put the game away could spell the end of the Lightning’s season.

Frank Seravalli: I don’t know if you watched that power play live – there wasn’t a stoppage from the from when it started at five minutes all the way down to seven seconds remaining. 4:53 of consecutive game time, which gives you an indication of how little the Tampa Bay Lightning created around the net in creating chaos to even cause a stoppage. So few shots, few opportunities, and then the Panthers take that momentum and win the game.

Tyler Yaremchuk: If a Bolts fan is going to sit there and complain about the officiating…you had a five-minute major in the third period. With all that talent you have, with how traditionally clutch your power play’s been, their best opportunity was the shot on what would be the far side from the camera angle. They missed the net by three feet. You score a goal there, this thing is over. Florida doesn’t have the fight to come back in that one. It’s still a missed opportunity for the ball. So you can be frustrated about it.

You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…