The Florida Panthers are 5-1 in NHL playoffs series in which they have won the opener.
That bodes well for Florida, which will play host to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night in Sunrise. Florida leads the best-of-seven series 1-0 after beating Tampa Bay 3-2 on Sunday.
“It’s nice to get off to a good start,” Panthers star Sam Reinhart said. “But there’s a long way to go.”
That’s true, but it’s also a fact that the Panthers tied with the Winnipeg Jets for the NHL lead in goals-against average (2.41) this past regular season.
Tampa Bay struggled to get a shot off against the Panthers on Sunday. In fact, the Lightning didn’t get their first shot on net until nearly 16 minutes (15:55 to be exact) had elapsed.
But the Lightning — who have won two Stanley Cup titles in the past four years — are still dangerous.
For starters, the Lightning had the best power play in the league in the regular season. The Panthers kept them mostly in check on Sunday as Tampa Bay went 1-for-2 with the man advantage.
Lightning star Nikita Kucherov — who led the NHL with 144 points in the regular season — was mostly quiet on Sunday. He had no goals, one assist and a minus-two plus/minus rating.
The Panthers, meanwhile, got at least one point from all four of their top scorers.
Reinhart, who ranked second in the league this season with 57 goals, produced Florida’s first goal. Matthew Tkachuk, who led the Panthers with 62 assists, produced two points, including one goal.
Aleksander Barkov, perhaps the best two-way forward in the NHL, had two assists. During the regular season, he ranked second on the Panthers with 57 assists. And Carter Verhaeghe — second on the Panthers with 34 goals — scored against Tampa Bay. His 16 career playoff goals are a Panthers record.
All of that spells trouble for Tampa Bay. If Florida’s big-four forwards are firing hot, the Panthers will be tough to beat.
That will be especially true if the Panthers continue to get good play out of goalie Sergei Bobrovsky and defenseman Gustav Forsling.
Bobrovsky is 37-17-4 this season, including playoffs. His 36 regular-season wins tied Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers for the most by an Eastern Conference goalie in 2023-24.
Forsling, who had one assist on Sunday, led the NHL with a plus-56 plus/minus rating in this year’s regular season. He was a plus-two against Tampa Bay on Sunday, and his 11 career playoff assists are tied for second all-time among Florida defensemen.
On the Tampa Bay side, goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy started this season on the injured list. He has since recovered to post his seventh consecutive season with at least 30 wins.
Lightning players say they have full faith in Vasilevskiy, and why would they not? Vasilevskiy has won two Stanley Cup titles, and he is known as one of the best playoff goalies in NHL history.
“This is a long series,” Tampa Bay forward Brandon Hagel said. “Throughout a series, an opponent will push back at you.
“But there is a lot of confidence in our room.”
–Field Level Media
