Who will take this Battle of Florida?
The Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers will play in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This will be the third Battle of Florida in four seasons, with the first two sets split. Tampa will have home-ice advantage, which Florida had in the first two matchups. Will that be the difference in this series? The Lightning and the Panthers are set to square off, so we have the bold predictions for you.
The Panthers have the biggest injury to monitor heading into this series. Matthew Tkachuk has not played since the 4 Nations Face-Off, and there has not been any update with just days to go. The Lightning may be without trade-deadline acquisition Oliver Bjorkstrand, who is week-to-week. These injuries can decide the series between two closely-contested teams.
Game 1 of Lightning-Panthers is on Tuesday, so we have your Stanley Cup Playoff bold predictions ready in plenty of time.
Nikita Kucherov will lead the series in scoring
The Lightning won the Eastern Conference in three consecutive seasons from 2020-2022. Most of that core is still around, namely Nikita Kucherov. While his playoff performances have been nothing short of iconic, he has put together some incredible regular seasons. He has won consecutive Art Ross titles for most points in the league, but did not win the Hart Trophy last year. His one Hart came in 2019, when he also won the Art Ross.
The Lightning had four players score over 35 goals this year, including Kucherov, who scored 37. He also led the team and league with 84 assists, an incredible second act to his 100-assist campaign last year. While they may get goals from plenty of players, Kucherov is most likely to pick up the assists.
The Panthers are a very deep team and have the elite talent to compete with the Lightning. But Kucherov is matched by very few as a scorer and playmaker in the NHL. He will lead the series in points.
Matthew Tkachuk will play in the series
In response to the success of “Drive to Survive”, many sports leagues have released in-depth documentaries. The NHL's, ‘Faceoff: Inside the NHL', released on Amazon Prime Video before this season. It showed Matthew Tkachuk getting copious amounts of training work done to play in the playoffs. It also detailed how he played in the 2023 Cup Final with a significant pelvis injury. With so much time off since the 4 Nations, Tkachuk will do everything in his power to play against the Lightning.
Tkachuk was on “Up and Adams” on FanDuel TV earlier this week and was asked about his availability. “I think I’d get in trouble if I said. I will say it’s been very good (the) last probably few days on the ice. I’ve really only been on the ice for a couple of days with, like, legit skates, so I’m just trying to peak sometime around Game 1. So, [I’m] looking forward to it.”
That certainly points to a return for number 19, but what form will he be in? His role as the pest has translated well to the playoffs, and adding Brad Marchand will help that identity. The Panthers can beat the Lightning with Tkachuk, but without him, it will be tough.
The Lightning will beat the Panthers in seven games
The Lightning will beat the Panthers in seven games in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. After Florida took them down in five games last year, Tampa will take them down this year. The Lightning had a great season this year, are far healthier than Florida, and have home-ice advantage.
The divisional playoff format feeds us this matchup for the second straight year. While that is good for rivalries, it will send out a Cup contender in the first round here. This is a second-round matchup, and both of these teams deserve to win at least one round. That aside, this should be a great series between two budding rivals.
Game 1 of the Lightning-Panthers series is on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. Eastern.
