The most important number from here on out is 16.
It’ll take 16 wins for the Florida Panthers to successfully defend their Stanley Cup.
Kicking off what they hope will be another two-month march to a second championship, the Panthers will battle the cross-state rival Tampa Bay Lightning in Round 1 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Game 1 is set for Tuesday at Amalie Arena.
“We know them really well, they know us really well, and obviously we’re in the same state,” captain Aleksander Barkov said of the highly-anticipated series. “It’s a big rivalry between us and every year it’s getting bigger and bigger. It’s good for hockey and good for state of Florida.”
Despite being the biggest number, however, 16 isn’t the only number.
With that in mind, here’s some key numbers that stand out heading into Round 1.
3: Aleksander Barkov’s points against the Lightning this season. The captain led the charge for the Panthers in the season series, notching three points (two goals, one assist) in three games while also winning 55.8% of his faceoffs. In his playoff career against Tampa Bay, Barkov has also produced a team-high 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) over 15 games.
4: The number of times the Panthers and Lightning have met in the playoffs over the last five seasons. Over the course of those four series, the two teams have played 15 games. An important matchup in the overall landscape, one of either the Panthers or Lightning has also represented the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup Final each of the last five seasons.
244: The number of miles between Amerant Bank Arena and Amalie Arena. This series will truly span the Sunshine State. With fans on both coasts, there will certainly be no shortage of puck-loving maniacs making their way back and forth across Alligator Alley over the next two weeks. Drive safe!
41: Goals for Jake Guentzel. The post-Steven Stamkos era has gotten off to a great start in Tampa. Pegged as the replacement for the team’s former captain, Guentzel’s first season couldn’t have gone much better. In addition to finishing second on the team in goals (41), the wicked sniper also led Tampa Bay in power-play goals (17). In four games against the Panthers during the regular season, Guentzel found the back of the net two times.
23.3: The total number of goals saved above expected for Sergei Bobrovsky over the past two postseasons. Let’s take a moment to appreciate “Playoff Bob.” The backbone of Florida’s defense, the veteran netminder always finds another gear come playoff time.
46: Matthew Tkachuk’s point total over the past two postseasons. A force on the ice ever since he arrived to South Florida, No. 19 leads the Panthers in points (46) and assists (29) over the team’s last two playoff runs, while also touching the twine a whopping 17 times.
20: The number of goals the Panthers scored in their first-round win over the Lightning in last year’s playoffs. Dispatching their cross-state rival in just five games, the Panthers scored at least three goals in all five of their games against the Lightning. Ending the series on a high note, the Panthers filled up the back of the net in a lopsided 6-1 win in a decisive Game 5.
6: Consecutive trips to the postseason for the Panthers. We are truly in the Golden Era of hockey in South Florida. Of the franchise’s 11 trips to the postseason in its 31 years of existence, six of have come since 2020-21. In that time, the Panthers have won one Stanley Cup, two Prince of Wales Trophies, two Atlantic Division titles and one Presidents’ Trophy.
9: Sergei Bobrovsky’s career wins against the Lightning in the playoffs. Before the helped the Panthers push past Tampa Bay en route to last year's Stanley Cup, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner backstopped the Columbus Blue Jackets to a stunning first-round sweep of the top-seeded Lightning in 2019. In that series, Bobrovsky boasted a stellar .932 save percentage.
25: The number of wins for the Panthers when leading after the first period this season. Like any team, the Panthers and Lightning both love to play with a lead. While the Panthers went 25-4-0 when leading after the opening 20 minutes, the Lightning also impressed at 27-5-3.
5: The number of goals Carter Verhaeghe scored against the Lightning during last year’s playoffs. The only man to win a Stanley Cup with both teams, “Swaggy” made his former team pay. In addition to leading the Panthers in goals (5) and plus/minus (+7) in the series, Verhaeghe also finished tied for first in points (9) and ranked second in shots on goal (22).
121: Nikita Kucherov’s point total. For the second straight season, the Lightning forward took home the Art Ross Trophy as the top point producer in the NHL. The 10th player in the history of the NHL to lead the league in scoring three times (2019, 2024, 2025), Kucherov logged 121 points (37 goals, 84 assists) in 78 games. In three regular-season games against the Panthers in 2024-25, he produced three points, including lighting the lamp twice.
33.25: Hits per 60 minutes for the Panthers against the Lightning in 2024-25. Finishing the regular season with a league-leading 2,446 hits, the Panthers averaged roughly four more hits per game against Tampa Bay compared to their overall season average of 29.51 hits.
15: Road playoff wins for the Panthers over the past two seasons. Starting a playoff series on the road? No problem. Over the course of their back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup Final, the Panthers have gone 15-8 on the road, including 7-4 during last year’s Cup run.
55.1: The percentage of shot attempts the Panthers controlled at 5-on-5 during the regular season. Only the Carolina Hurricanes (59.15%) were better than the Panthers at earning the lion’s share of shot attempts in 2024-25. Across the ice, the Lightning finished 13th with a 50.39% share of shot attempts, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
66: Career playoff wins for Andrei Vasilevskiy. Since his debut season in 2014-15, no goaltender in the NHL has won more games than “The Big Cat.” Over his 115 career playoff appearances, the Lightning netminder boasts a .920 save percentage. That being said, the Panthers did finally get the better of Vasilevskiy during last year’s first-round matchup. Winning just one game against Florida in the series, he posted a .897 save percentage and 3.22 goals-against average.
88.9: Florida’s penalty kill percentage against the Lightning in the regular season. Despite owning the fifth-ranked power play in the NHL at 25.9%, Tampa Bay’s vaunted attack was held mostly in check by the Panthers. Over the course of their four head-to-head matchups in 2024-25, the Panthers allowed just two power-play goals over 18 trips to the penalty kill.
39: Goals for Sam Reinhart this season. For the second straight campaign, Reinhart paced the Panthers in goals. Doing some damage against the Lightning, he lit the lamp twice in three head-to-head matchups in 2024-25. Always a threat to score, Reinhart has recorded 21 total goals over his first three playoff runs with the Panthers -- none of them bigger than his game-winning goal in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers last year.
