Barkov, Panthers end Lightning 8-game winning streak in Jones’ debut

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Aleksander Barkov scored twice in the second period, and the Florida Panthers ended the Tampa Bay Lightning’s eight-game winning streak with a 2-1 victory at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday.

Seth Jones made his debut for the Panthers after he was acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday for goalie Spencer Knight and a conditional first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.

The defenseman had three shots on goal in 22:56 of ice time, including 4:08 on the penalty kill.

“Seth was real valuable tonight, that’s an awful lot of minutes against that power play,’’ Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “He’s going to be really good for us. He moves the puck clean and has a set of hands on him. I thought, from flying from Anaheim (Sunday) to get here, and then having everything being brand new, he was basically playing on instinct out there.’’

Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves for the Panthers (38-21-3), who have won four in a row and nine of 11.

“The atmosphere was great. Obviously, they have a good team and we have a good team,” Bobrovsky said. “It was fun hockey. When two good teams play, there is good bite, good energy.’’

Brayden Point scored for the Lightning (35-21-4), who hadn’t lost since Feb. 1 against the New York Islanders. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 saves.

“We had 10-plus minutes of power-play time and can’t tuck one in,” said Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper, whose team was 0-for-7 with the man-advantage. “That, ultimately, was probably the difference. I can’t say it took momentum, because we got stronger as the game went on. … It was two really good teams, and it was a good hockey game.”

Barkov gave Florida a 1-0 lead at 9:02 of the second period, escaping a check from Point at the top of the zone before turning up ice and scoring on a wrist shot from the top of the left circle.

Barkov’s second goal of the period extended it to 2-0 at 15:16. He scored over Vasilevskiy’s glove from the point for a power-play goal.

“We had really good effort the whole game, we knew they are really good team playing really well,” Barkov said. “We had to be at our best.’’

Point cut it to 2-1 at 2:07 of the third period, following up his own rebound and burying a backhand under Bobrovsky’s blocker.

“We had some good looks, some good chances,” Point said. “Either [Bobrovsky] made some good saves, or they got sticks on pucks. There were a couple of power plays we would like back. But it was a game where the chances we got just didn’t go in.’’

NOTES: Tampa Bay, which started as an expansion team during the 1992-93 NHL season, played its 2500th game on Monday. The Lightning have 1,162 wins, which ranks fourth among NHL teams within their first 2,500 games. … The Panthers played without forward Matthew Tkachuk, who was placed on long-term injured reserve on Sunday. General manager Bill Zito said Monday that Tkachuk is not expected to play for the remainder of the regular season. … Lightning forward Brandon Hagel’s eight-game point streak ended (eight goals, six assists).