3 least impressive players from Florida Panthers' 5-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning feat. Aaron Ekblad

The Florida Panthers fell 5-1 to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 3 of their first-round series on Saturday afternoon at Amerant Bank Arena.

Following two dominant wins in Tampa Bay, Florida was looking to take a 3-0 stranglehold on the series. Unfortunately, the Lightning reminded them they are in for a long series in the Battle of Florida.

The Panthers actually got off to a picture-perfect start on home ice, as Matthew Tkachuk finished off a nice move by Sam Bennett to take a 1-0 lead just 2:43 into the game.

The Cats held that lead for most of the period, until Brayden Point deflected a Jake Guentzel shot to tie the game with 2:45 left in the opening frame. Florida outshot Tampa Bay 12-5, but the teams were even after one period of play.

The second period saw a plethora of power plays that failed to convert. Each team had multiple opportunities on the man advantage, though it all amounted to nothing.

At 13:17 of the middle frame, Nick Paul snuck a shot under Sergei Bobrovsky on an odd-man rush to break the deadlock. The Lightning took that 2-1 lead into the third period.

It took no time for Tampa Bay to add to its lead. Jake Guentzel batted a puck in out front just 21 seconds into the final frame, providing a much more comfortable two-goal cushion.

Andrei Vasilevskiy stood tall for the Bolts and frustrated the Panthers in the process. It was the superstar goaltender's best game of the series, stopping 33 of 34 shots.

Luke Glendening and Anthony Cirelli added insurance tallies later in the third period, and that was all. The Lightning took down the Panthers 5-1 in Game 3 to cut their series deficit to 2-1.

NHL: Jake Guentzel & Nick Paul celebrate goal - Source: Imagn

The Florida Panthers will need to brush off the loss and shift their focus toward grabbing a 3-1 series lead in Game 4 on Monday night. The puck drops at 7 p.m. EST at Amerant Bank Arena.

---

3 least impressive players from the Florida Panthers' 5-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning

#1. Aaron Ekblad

Aaron Ekblad had an afternoon to forget in his first game back from suspension. The Panthers defenseman went pointless and had a minus-4 rating in 20:20 of action.

It had to have been difficult jumping back into action for Game 3 of the playoffs, though Florida will need much better from Ekblad moving forward.

#2. Gustav Forsling

Ekblad's partner, Gustav Forsling, was no better on Saturday. The usually steady blueliner was also held off the scoresheet and posted a minus-4 rating in 21:59 of ice time.

Forsling had several turnovers and a costly pinch. He was great in Games 1 and 2; however, he'll need to rekindle his chemistry with Ekblad on the Panthers' top defense pairing.

#3. Sergei Bobrovsky

Game 3 was Bobrovsky's worst performance of the series. The star netminder allowed four goals on just 21 shots in a losing effort.

Nick Paul's game-winning goal was particularly weak, and Vasilevskiy was the much better goalie at the other end. Bobrovsky was fantastic in the two games in Tampa Bay, so it is hard to put all the blame on him after this one.