The rematch is on. Despite beating their in-state rivals and picking up another two points in the standings, the Tampa Bay Lightning are locked into the number two seed in the Atlantic Division branch of the playoffs thanks to the Buffalo Sabres inability to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs. That means it’s the series we’ve all been waiting a year for – the Tampa Bay Lightning host the Florida Panthers.
After going 27 seasons without meeting each other in the playoffs, the two Florida teams will meet for the fourth time in the last five seasons. Tampa Bay owned the first two meetings, bouncing the Panthers in six games in the first round of the 2020-21 postseason, and sweeping them in the second round of the 2021-22 playoffs. In both seasons, the Lightning went on to play in the Stanley Cup Final. The Panthers finally got around to beating the Lightning in the first round last year. Lo and behold, they also went on to play in the Stanley Cup Final that season. We’re not rocket scientists here, but we detect a trend.
Overall, the Lightning own a 9-6 record all-time in the postseason against the Panthers, averaging 3.40 goals per game while allowing 2.67. You get two guesses as to who the all-time points leader is against the Panthers, but you won’t need them. It’s Nikita Kucherov with 25 (5 goals, 20 assists). As for the goals leader, it’s Steven Stamkos with 10, while Brayden Point is second with 6. Victor Hedman isn’t said about this match-up as he has 18 points (1 goal, 17 assists) with 11 of those points coming on the power play.
Looking at the Miami boys, it’s Aleksander Barkov leading the way with 13 points (3 goals, 10 assists) in 15 games against the Bolts. Old friend Carter Verhaeghe loves sticking it to his old teammates with seven goals, the most of any Panther in this rivalry. In case you were wondering, Brad Marchand has 18 career games against the Bolts in the second season and has recorded 14 points (6 goals, 8 assists) with 2 game-winning goals.
Andrei Vasilevskiy has played every minute of every game (well, except for when he was pulled for the extra attacker) in the series and has a .935 SV% and 2.33 GAA. He’s also posted 2 shutouts along the way. Both of those shutouts, along with 5 of the 9 wins, came in Amalie Arena where he has a .938 SV% and 2.26 GAA. He is 4-4 on the road with a .932 SV% and 2.39 GAA, which are still really good numbers.
In the other crease, Sergei Bobrovsky has faced the Lightning 12 times in the postseason with a 5-7-0 record, .894 SV% and 3.14 GAA. Spencer Knight and Chris Driedger were the other goalies that got into action against the Bolts. Officer Bob’s splits are nowhere near as close as Vasilevskiy’s, as the Florida netminder is 2-4-0 on the road with a .874 SV% and 3.72 GAA. Down in Sunrise he is 3-3-0 with a .910 SV% and 2.67 GAA. Maybe that home-ice advantage will be the difference in this series.
We’ll have some more previews along the way over the next couple of days, but buckle in, because it’s going to be a fun ride over the next two weeks.
