SUNRISE, Fla. – Get the popcorn ready.
Meeting for the first time this season, the Florida Panthers (9-7-1) will host the Tampa Bay Lightning (8-6-2) for the latest Battle of Florida at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET.
The last time the two teams met in the preseason, a Lightning forward Scott Sabourin assault on Aaron Ekblad, one he would later receive a four-game suspension for, kicked off a powder keg of a night that ended with 13 game misconducts and 312 penalty minutes.
While there’s likely less fireworks this time around, the rivalry is certainly never dull.
“Division game,” Ekblad said of the highly anticipated tilt after Friday’s practice. “A lot of pace, physicality, all the things you’d expect in a divisional game. We’re excited to play.”
The Panthers are entering the matchup on the heels of a 6-3 win over the Washington Capitals on Thursday in which Brad Marchand recorded the 1,000th point of his career.
The veteran forward is just the 102nd player in NHL history to hit that lofty mark.
"Years and years, they compound,” Marchand said of his achievement. “You can play for a while and good things start happening. I remember a couple years ago I looked and it was 800 [points]. I couldn't believe I had that many, and I kind of started chasing it from that point. It's exciting. It’s something I’m really proud of, and hopefully there’s many more.”
Also having big nights against the Capitals, Sam Reinhart (two goals, one assist), Eetu Luostarinen (one goal, two assists) and Anton Lundell (three assists) all racked up three points during the win.
Earning his first win with the Panthers, Daniil Tarasov made 37 saves.
Settling into a groove after adjusting to life without injured stars like Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk early this season, the Panthers have gone 5-2-1 in their last eight games.
“Getting back to our roots of what we do best, which is just getting pucks in and trying to grind down teams,” Ekblad said of the team’s current stretch. “We feel like we’ve been doing that, and obviously having success.”
Despite winning seven of their last nine games to shake off a rocky start, the Lightning were at the mercy of the New York Rangers in their last game, suffering a 7-3 loss on Wednesday.
Not in his usual Vezina Trophy-winning form, Andrei Vasilevskiy was pulled from the game after allowing five goals on just 13 shots. In relief, Jonas Johansson made six saves on seven shots.
Jake Guentzel leads the lightning in scoring with 16 points (7G, 9A), while Nikia Kucherov (7G, 7A) and Brandon Hagel (7G, 7A) are tied for second with 14 points apiece. The team’s top talent on the blue line, Victor Hedman has logged 12 points, all of them being assists.
With a long list of players considered day-to-day on their injury report, it’s possible the Lightning take the ice without Hagel and Hedman. Dealing with an undisclosed injury, Hedman has already missed one game, while Hagel exited early in the loss to New York.
Sitting at 5-5-2 with a .896 save percentage, Vasilevskiy is likely to return to the net after being pulled in his last start. For the Panthers, Sergei Bobrovsky, a fellow former winner of the Vezina Trophy, is expected to start after backing up Tarasov against the Capitals.
Last season, the Panthers and Lightning split their four-game season series.
The two teams also met in the Eastern Conference First Round of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs for the second consecutive year, with the Panthers winning in just five games.
“This is just good rivalries,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “If you get into playoffs with a team and if you do it in two consecutive years, that third year, they don’t forget. Neither team forgets. That energy comes to the rink. You know what could happen, and then you drop the puck and it’s usually something completely different, but it’ll be good.”
THEY SAID IT
“We were picking up pucks every goal pretty much. It’s great to see the guys getting these achievements.” – Eetu Luostarinen on Thursday’s win over Washington
“We all celebrate together. It feels pretty incredible to be part of a group that enjoys each other as much as we do and is as close as we are. It makes these moments that much more special.” – Brad Marchand on celebrating with teammates after his 1,000th point
“He had a big number of pucks on him last night and he gets to really feel like he was a driver in that one, very important. We haven’t given the poor fellow a chance, we just hadn’t scored in front of him. He was really good last night and he gets to enjoy it.” – Paul Maurice on Daniil Tarasov’s first win as a Panther
FIVE CATS STATS
- Four of the last six Stanley Cups have been won by either the Panthers or Lightning.
- Brad Marchand has at least one point in each of his last nine games.
- Sam Reinhart has lit the lamp in seven of his last nine games.
- Donovan Sebrango has blocked 11 shots in his last six games.
- The Panthers are 5-1-0 when leading after the first period.
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
FORWARDS
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Brad Marchand
Carter Verhaeghe – Evan Rodrigues – Sam Reinhart
Jesper Boqvist – Sam Bennett – Mackie Samoskevich
A.J. Greer – Cole Schwindt – Luke Kunin
DEFENSEMEN
Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones
Donovan Sebrango – Jeff Petry
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Daniil Tarasov
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
- Oct. 27: D Tobias Bjornfot reassigned to Charlotte (AHL)
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
When: Saturday, November 15 at 5 p.m. ET
Where: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
TV: WSFL, WHDT, WFTX, PanthersPlus.TV
Radio: 560 WQAM-AM (Dade/Broward); 106.3 WESP-FM (Palm Beach); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); 101.7 WCZR (Treasure Coast); Panthers GameDay App; SiriusXM App & Streaming 931
Tickets: Click here
Theme Night: Hockey Fights Cancer
