Florida rivalry renewed: Panthers, Lightning to meet in playoffs
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Gage Goncalves of the Tampa Bay Lightning shoots against Jaycob Megna of the Florida Panthers on April 15. Photo; by Mark LoMoglio/NHLI via Getty Images
The battle for Florida will be fought on ice skates. The Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning face off in the opening round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs next week.
- It's the second-straight year the teams will meet in the opening round. The Panthers won the series last year en route to the franchise's first Stanley Cup championship.
Why it matters: The intrastate hockey rivalry stretches back decades.
Flashback: Lightning fans, who received their NHL team in 1992, took offense to the newly created Panthers claiming the entire state in 1993.
- At the time, Lightning bosses called the Panthers "Pussycats."
- Tampa fans were called "Tampons."
In their first regular-season matchup in 1993, the Lightning refused to cede Florida to the Panthers.
- The scoreboard at the ThunderDome in St. Petersburg simply said "Miami."
- Even the tickets referred to the South Florida team as the "Miami Panthers."
Yes, but: While the feud was initially criticized as a ticket-selling ploy — there was even a cheeky kiss from one team boss to another — the rivalry has since taken on championship-level importance.
- In each of the past five seasons, one of the Florida teams has appeared in the Stanley Cup Final.
- Tampa Bay has three Stanley Cup championships (2004, 2020, 2021), compared with Florida's lone title last season.
Driving the news: The Lightning, having earned the No. 2 seed in the Atlantic Division, host the No. 3 Panthers for Game 1 on Tuesday at Amalie Arena (8:30pm on ESPN). Full series schedule
Stars to watch: Panthers center Sam Reinhart leads Florida this season with 81 points, followed by captain Aleksander Barkov with 71.
- Star forward Matthew Tkachuk, who hasn't played for Florida since Feb. 8 due to a lower-body injury, says he hopes to return for Game 1.
- Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky is fifth in the NHL in goals-against average and top 20 in save percentage.
Tampa Bay forward Nikita Kucherov leads the entire NHL with 121 points.
- Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy is fourth in the NHL in both goals-against average and save percentage.
By the numbers: Tampa Bay leads the NHL in goals per game and is top five in goals against per game, power play percentage and save percentage.
- Florida is No. 1 in penalty minutes and No. 4 in shutouts.
This series marks the fourth time the Cats and Bolts have met in the playoffs.
- Tampa Bay won the first two matchups in 2021 and 2022, and Florida won last season.