Lightning at Panthers: Try to forget about the last time these teams met

Game #67 – Florida Panthers at Tampa Bay Lightning
Time: 6:00 PM EST
Location: Amalie Arena
Broadcast/Streaming: ESPN+, Hulu

Opponent’s Site: Litter Box Cats

Preview

First note, it looks like tonight is a ESPN+/Hulu game. Fantastic for us out of town folks, not so much of you don’t have the streaming services. So, good luck!

On Thursday, the Tampa Bay Lightning faced and passed their first test as they head into their final playoff push as they beat the New York Rangers, 6-3. Tonight, they face another one as they kick off a five-game road trip down in Sunrise. It’s been another solid season for the Florida Panthers as they’ve vaulted themselves to the top of the league with 94 points.

They’ve really kicked things in gear over the last couple of months as they’re a league-best 23-6-2 since January 1. The defending Eastern Conference Champions are scoring 3.61 goals (third in the league) over that stretch while allowing just 2.16 (second in the league).

In net Sergei Bobrovsky is having his best season in a Panthers’ uniform as he’s posted 32 wins, a 2.32 GAA, a .918 SV%, and a 19.24 GSAx. While he’s been okay during his tenure with Florida, this is the first season he’s been the $10 million goalie they’ve been hoping for since signing him to a big free agent deal back in the summer of 2019.

The last time these two teams met up, it was Bobrovsky in net when the Panthers trounced the Bolts, 9-2, in one of the worst outings of the year for Tampa Bay. He made 28 saves in the win, including a stop on a breakaway by Nikita Kucherov. That loss kicked off a three-game losing streak for the Bolts and led to their wobbly play of late.

Both teams have made some top-six changes since that meeting as Anthony Duclair has joined the Lightning and performed well since donning the bolt. On the other side of the ice, Vladimir Tarasenko is on the top line for the Panthers and has 2 goals, 1 assist in four games. Yes, all those points came in one game, but his scoring ability just makes a potent offense all of that more dangerous.

Tonight’s game kicks off the last big road trip of the season for the Lightning as the five-game swing takes them out west for games against Vegas, San Jose, LA, and Anaheim. The offense has returned over the last few games, but the big question will be if they can keep it going on the road. The Bolts are third in the league in goals per game at home with an average of 3.88. Away from Amalie, that ranking drops all the way down to 19th with a 2.97 GAA.

Stats Match-up

Lines

Tampa Bay Lightning Projected Lines

Forwards
Anthony Duclair – Brayden Point – Nikita Kucherov
Brandon Hagel – Anthony Cirelli – Steven Stamkos
Mikey Eyssimont – Nick Paul – Conor Sheary

Tyler Motte – Luke Glendening – Mitchell Chaffee

Defenders
Victor Hedman – Darren Raddysh
Nick Perbix – Erik Cernak
Calvin de Haan – Matt Dumba

Goalies
Andrei Vasilevskiy

Florida Panthers Potential Lines

Forwards

Vlad Tarasenko – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart

Carter Verhaeghe – Anton Lundell – Matthew Tkachuk

Nick Cousins – Eetu Luostarinen – Kyle Okposo

Jonah Gadjovich – Kevin Stenlund – Ryan Lomberg

Defenders

Gustav Forsling – Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Niko Mikkola – Brandon Montour

Josh Mahura – Dmitry Kulikov

Goalies

Sergei Bobrovsky

Anthony Stolarz

The Playoff Race