Without suspended winger Brandon Hagel in the lineup, the Tampa Bay Lightning stormed back to defeat the Florida Panthers 5-1 on Saturday, cutting their deficit in this Eastern Conference first-round series to 2-1 on the strength of five unanswered goals.

Panthers coach Paul Maurice and Lightning coach Jon Cooper have much in common besides having their names etched onto the Stanley Cup and residing in Florida. They're both savvy in how they deal with media. They're both masters of dry humor. And they don't mind being on the receiving end of a light-hearted jab.

The Lightning turned the deficit into a rout in Game 3, beating the Panthers 5-1 Saturday and tightening the series to 2-1. Andrei Vasilevskiy was nearly perfect, s