The defending champion Panthers lead the regular-season series 2-1 before Tampa Bay — which hadn’t lost since Feb. 1 — hosts the final meeting on April 15.

Aleksander Barkov logged his first multi-goal game of the season as the Florida Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 on Monday at Amerant Bank Arena. Florida improves to 38-21-3 and is on a four-game winning streak. Tampa Bay falls to 35-21-4 and saw its eight-game win streak snapped.

In many ways, the Lightning played well enough to win Monday night against the cross-state rival Panthers. They allowed just two goals, and only one at even strength. But they wasted too many offensive opportunities early, especially on a power play that was 0-for-7 over 10 minutes, 32 seconds with the man advantage.