The Tampa Bay Lightning opened the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 6-2 loss to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday.
Florida scored 3:44 into the game, but the Lightning tied the score 1-1 on a power play. The Panthers then scored four straight goals before the teams traded scores late in the game.
Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk led all players in the game with three points, while Tampa Bay got its goals from Jake Guentzel and Brayden Point.
Game 2 is set for 6:30 p.m. on Thursday at AMALIE Arena.
Scoring summary
First period
FLA 1, TBL 0
3:44 Sam Bennett (1) - Mackie Samoskevich
Florida took the game’s first goal when forward Sam Bennett batted a puck out of midair in front of the Lightning net.
FLA 1, TBL 1
12:21 Jake Guentzel (1) - Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman - PP
Tampa Bay utilized its power play to tie the game with four seconds remaining on a Matthew Tkachuk penalty. Nikita Kucherov’s one-timer from atop the right faceoff circle was stopped, but Guentzel tucked home the rebound at the right post.
FLA 2, TBL 1
19:15 Sam Reinhart (1) - Dmitry Kulikov, Carter Verhaege
The Panthers regained the lead in the final minute of the first period on a Sam Reinhart redirection.
Shots on goal: TBL 10, FLA 6
Second period
FLA 3, TBL 1
4:41 Nate Schmidt (1) - Eetu Luostarinen, Brad Marchand
The Panthers took a two-goal lead when a loose puck found Nate Schmidt outside the crease.
FLA 4, TBL 1
4:55 Matthew Tkachuk (1) - Reinhart, Aleksander Barkov - PP
A netfront goal on the power play extended the Panthers’ lead.
FLA 5, TBL 1
9:44 Tkachuk (2) - Unassisted - PP
Tkachuk’s second goal of the game came on the power play.
FLA 5, TBL 2
13:04 Brayden Point (1) - Ryan McDonagh, Gage Goncalves
Tampa Bay pulled itself closer to the Panthers when Brayden Point buried a one-timed shot from the bottom of the left faceoff circle on a setup by defenseman Ryan McDonagh.
Shots on goal: FLA 7, TBL 6
Third period
FLA 6, TBL 2
5:09 Schmidt (2) - Tkachuk, Barkov
Schmidt’s second goal of the game came from the point on a Panthers power play.
Total shots: TBL 22, FLA 16
