TAMPA BAY – Here we go.
The puck will finally drop in the Battle of Florida when the Florida Panthers take on the Tampa Lightning in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Amalie Arena on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. ET.
“We know it’s going to be a war,” said forward Anton Lundell.
Meeting for the fourth time in the past five postseasons, the Panthers will look to repeat their success last season when they eliminated the Lightning in Round 1 en route to the Stanley Cup.
Prior to that series win, Tampa Bay had knocked Florida out of the playoffs in 2021 and 2022.
“Systematically, and the core is so similar for both teams,” forward Sam Reinhart said of the familiarity between the two clubs. “We’re not strangers to each other, we know exactly how each are going to play.”
Evenly matched, with fire power up and down the lineup, the two Florida teams split the regular-season series with a pair of wins each.
A strong season following up two deep playoff runs, the Panthers finished third in the Atlantic Division with a 47-31-4 record.
Hoping for the return of Matthew Tkachuk, who missed the final 25 games of the regular season, head coach Paul Maurice announced that No. 19 will be a game-time decision ahead of Game 1.
“He’ll get checked out one more time by the doctors before we get the clear,” Maurice said after Tuesday’s morning skate.
Recording 57 points (22 goals, 35 assists) in 52 games prior to the injury, Tkachuk can bring a boost in more ways than one.
“He’s a plus point-a-game guy,” said Maurice. “Matthew’s strength, the obvious is his hands, but his emotional understanding of the game – when the team needs a spark, when it needs a funny line, when it needs a hit, whatever it needs – he has a great understanding.”
Making his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut, Mackie Samoskevich will likely be lined up with Sam Bennett and Tkachuk (if he’s cleared).
The rookie is ready to bring his excitement onto the ice.
“It was super exciting,” said Samoskevich of waking up on his first playoff gameday. “Today's the day. It's one of those feelings that you kind of get overwhelmed with excitement. You have to do a good job of calming down a little bit and pacing yourself for the game tonight. I can't wait.”
Between the pipes, Sergei Bobrovsky will look to continue his “Playoff Bob” ways.
Over the last two postseasons, the Panthers veteran goaltender owns a 28-14-0 record, .911 save percentage and a 2.53 goals-against average.
Finishing with a 47-27-8 record, the Lightning secured the second seed in the Atlantic Division.
Carrying one of the most potent offenses in the NHL, the Lightning ranked first in the league in average goals per game (3.56) and fifth in power-play percentage (25.9).
“It’s going to take all five guys on the ice to understand the job when they’re out there, especially their top two lines,” said defenseman Seth Jones. “They’ve been very dangerous this year. Being physical on them is important, but at the same time sticks are even more important.”
Yet again, the familiar faces of the Lightning put up big numbers this season.
Up front, Nikita Kucherov secured his second straight Art Ross Trophy, piling up a league-leading 121 points. Lighting the lamp 42 times, Brayden Point ranked sixth in the NHL in goals.
On the blue line, Victor Hedman compiled the sixth most assists (51) and points (66) among NHL defensemen.
New to the core this season and fitting like a glove, Jake Guentzel tallied 80 points (41 goals, 39 assists) and a league-best 17 power-play goals in 80 games.
In net, the Panthers will have to find a way to get through one of the league's best in Andrei Vasilevskiy.
This season, the Lightning netminder posted a career-best 2.18 goals-against average, and his .921 save percentage ranked fourth in the NHL.
Owning 66 playoff wins, Vasilevskiy ranks 12th all-time in career postseason wins among goalies.
THEY SAID IT
“We don’t really care who we play against, that’s our mindset. Whoever comes up against each other, we just try to make sure to do the job and come up with the win.” – Anton Lundell on the third line matching up against the Lightning
“I’m excited to just get in that rhythm of playing and competing every other night.” – Nico Sturm on starting playoffs after a week off
FIVE CATS STATS
- Carter Verhaeghe has seven goals in 15 playoff games against Tampa Bay.
- Brad Marchand has 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in 18 playoff games against Tampa Bay.
- Florida’s 28.2% road power play ranked fourth in the NHL this season.
- Aleksander Barkov has 10 assists in 15 playoff games against Tampa Bay.
- The Panthers are 15-8-0 on the road in the last two postseasons.
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
FORWARDS
Carter Verhaeghe – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Mackie Samoskevich – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk (game-time decision)
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Brad Marchand
Evan Rodrigues – Nico Sturm – Jesper Boqvist
DEFENSEMEN
Gustav Forsling – Seth Jones
Niko Mikkola – Dmitry Kulikov
Uvis Balinskis – Nate Schmidt
GOALTENDERS
Sergei Bobrovsky
Vitek Vanecek
RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
- April 16: F Jesse Puljujarvi assigned to Charlotte (AHL)
- April 16: F Rasmus Asplund assigned to Charlotte (AHL)
- April 16: D Matt Kiersted recalled assigned to Charlotte (AHL)
- April 12: Agreed to terms with F Jack Devine on a 3-year, entry-level contract
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
When: Tuesday, April 22 at 8:30 p.m. ET
Where: Amalie Arena– Tampa Bay, FL
TV & Streaming: Scripps Sports, PanthersPlus.TV, ESPN, SN360, TVAS 2
Radio: 560 WQAM (Dade/Broward); 92.1 WZZR-FM (Palm Beach); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); 101.7 WCZR (Treasure Coast); Panthers App; SiriusXM App & Streaming 931
Watch Party: Brus Room
