SUNRISE, Fla. — Certainly, the Panthers deserved to celebrate. Their pressure was relentless.

The Lightning deserved their fate, too. They have allowed Florida to control the puck and the pace.

As for Andrei Vasilevskiy? He deserved so much more.

If the Lightning cannot win a playoff game with their goaltender sliding, diving and denying pucks from every direction, then this season could be heading to a quicker end than last year.

Florida beat Tampa Bay, 3-2 in overtime, Tuesday night to claim the first two games of the first-round series. And when Carter Verhaeghe’s backhanded flip ended up in the net less than three minutes into the extra period, Vasilevskiy was sprawled on the ice with Florida forward Matthew Tkachuk on top of him, and three Lightning players arriving too late to do a stinking thing to help their goaltender.

“I thought Vasy made some great saves,” Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. “Both goalies played outstanding tonight. One had a little more action than the other but both made some really quality saves.”

Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky will dominate highlight clips for the next 24 hours — and you will probably see it for years to come — with a spectacular, no-stick, leaping, backhanded save to rob Lightning defenseman Matt Dumba, who had an open shot at the end of a rush when the game was 2-2 in the second period.

But Vasilevskiy’s degree of difficulty across 63 minutes was far higher.

He kept the score close in Game 1, and he practically lugged the Lightning into overtime in Game 2.

Vasilevskiy didn’t just face 37 shots, he faced a barrage of wide-open chances, rushes, tips and screens.

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