TAMPA BAY – Game 2.
After cruising to a 6-2 win in Game 1, the Florida Panthers will look to grab a 2-0 series lead when they battle the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference First Round on Thursday at Amalie Arena at 6:30 p.m. ET.
“Obviously, a huge win (in Game 1),” said defenseman Gustav Forsling. “We have some things we want to do better. We weren’t perfect that game, so we learned some things and we’re going to bring it tonight.”
Back on the ice for the first time in 25 games, Matthew Tkachuk’s return was about as good as it gets for the Panthers.
Leading all skaters with three points, Tkachuk, who suffered a lower-body injury at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, found the back of the net twice on the power play and dished out a helper on Florida’s third power-play goal in the win.
“He’s one of the leaders on the team,” forward Nico Sturm said of the return of Tkachuk, who also brought an emotional boost to the bench. “You see a guy being out for a prolonged stretch of time and you see him working every day in the gym and doing rehab, that’s not what we love to do, we love to play the game. You could see the joy on his face in just being out there and competing.”
Not the only Panther to strike twice, Nate Schmidt became the fourth D-man in the last 30 years to score multiple goals in his team playoff debut, per NHL Stats.
During the time of year when situational goals matter the most, the Panthers came through.
Scoring in critical situations, the Panthers opened the game’s scoring, scored with less than a minute remaining in the first period, and went a perfect 3-for-3 on the power play.
“It’s important to get the first one,” said Sam Bennett, who broke the ice just a few minutes into Game 1 on Tuesday. “When you’re the away team, you don’t have the energy of the crowd on your side. To take them away is big and definitely helped us.”
Looking to bounce back and not go down 2-0 before heading to Sunrise, the Lightning might be without a top-six forward in Anthony Cirelli, who left in the second period and is a game-time decision for Game 2.
A veteran team that’s won two Stanley Cups, the Lightning still know how to win with different lineups.
“This is a veteran team and there are no identity issues with it,” said head coach Paul Maurice. “They know exactly how they play the game and they can slot people in and move people easily to do that. We prep for everybody being in and everybody being healthy and I don't think their identity changes about who they are or how they're going to try to play the game.”
With or without Cirelli, the Lightning will still be deploying big time playmakers up front in Art Ross winner Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Brandon Hagel and Jake Guentzel.
In Game 1, both Guentzel and Point sounded the goal horn.
Between the pipes, both teams will roll with their future Hall of Fame netminders once again.
In Game 1, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 20 of 22 shots for the Panthers, including making 17 saves on 18 shots at even strength. In the opposing crease, Andrei Vasilevskiy surrendered six goals on just 17 shots against for the Lightning.
Coming with pressure early in Game 1, the Panthers are expecting another early jump in Game 2.
“They’re going to come out flying, like they did last game,” said Forsling. “We just got to weather the storm and go from there.”
THEY SAID IT
“Played a physical game. Kept it simple. No panic at any point in the game at all. The longer the game went on, the more we wore them down. That's going to continue to be the game plan going forward.” – Nico Sturm on what the team wants to carry over from Game 1
“Because of his skillset, Anton (Lundell) and Eetu (Luostarinen) are starting to think about the game in terms of offense as well.” – Paul Maurice on Brad Marchand mentoring Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen
FIVE CATS STATS
- Aleksander Barkov’s 53.8 faceoff win percentage in the playoffs ranks third among active skaters (min. 1,000 faceoffs).
- Florida owns a 6-2 record in Game 1’s of playoff series dating back to Round 2 of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs vs. Toronto.
- Sergei Bobrovsky’s 10 playoff wins against the Tampa Bay Lightning are the most by a goaltender vs. TBL in the playoffs in NHL history.
- Nate Schmidt and Matthew Tkachuk’s second period goals came in a span of 14 seconds, marking the fastest two goals in a playoff game in franchise history.
- Florida outhit Tampa Bay 48-28 in Game 1.
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
FORWARDS
Carter Verhaeghe – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Mackie Samoskevich – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
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 22: F Jesse Puljujarvi recalled from Charlotte (AHL)
- April 16: F Rasmus Asplund assigned to Charlotte (AHL)
- April 16: D Matt Kiersted 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: Thursday, April 24 at 6:30 p.m. ET
Where: Amalie Arena– Tampa Bay, FL
TV & Streaming: Scripps Sports, PanthersPlus.TV, TBS, truTV, Max, SN360, TVAS 2
Radio: 560 WQAM (DADE/BROWARD); 1230 WBZT-AM/92.1 WZZR-FM (PALM BEACH); 100.3 WCTH (FLORIDA KEYS); 101.7 WCZR (TREASURE COAST); Panthers App; SiriusXM App & Streaming 931
Watch Party: Funky Buddha
