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Tune in to tonight’s anticipated Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs between the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning! The puck drops at 8:30 PM ET, so be prepared for two teams from the Atlantic Division to duke it out for the first-game series advantage.
We’ve got the rundown for the game, so feel free to review our picks and decide whether they’re something you want to fade or follow!
The Florida Panthers head to Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs as a 3rd seed, finishing their season in the Eastern Conference Atlantic Division with 98 points in total. The Panthers would conclude their regular season with a 3-2 record in their last five games, starting April 8 with a clean 3-1 victory over the Maple Leafs. Their winning streak extended to three games after a 4-1 victory over the Red Wings, followed by a 3-2 shootout win against the Sabres on April 12. However, they fell to Rangers 5-3 the next game before facing their now opponents of Tampa Bay Lightning and losing 5-1 in their final regular season matchup.
Florida’s center Sam Reinhart tucked away 2 goals in the Panthers’ 5-3 win over the Rangers on April 14, concluding his regular season with an impressive 39 goals and 42 assists for his team. Teammate center Aleksander Barkov would provide 2 assists in the same game to add to his final regular season stat count of 20 goals and 51 assists in just 67 games.
Not many other players lead the NHL player skating stat leaderboards, so a lot of weight will be put on those two to perform, along with one of the top goalkeepers, Sergei Bobrovsky, allowing just 2.44 goals per game, achieving 33 wins in 54 games.
The 2nd seed Atlantic Division team of Tampa Bay Lightning concluded their regular season with 102 points, just three more than the Florida Panthers, taking a deserved spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year.
Contrary to the Panthers, the Lightning would go 2-3 in their final five games, despite defeating their upcoming opponents of the Panthers on April 15 in a near-blowout game. On April 9, the Lightning would lose 4-3 in OT to the Maple Leafs before mirroring another 4-3 OT loss to the Red Wings two days later. They bounced back and defeated the Sabres in the next game 7-4, continuing to showcase their goalscoring capabilities with their next contest ending with a 5-1 win over the Panthers. In their final regular season game, the Rangers posted a 4-0 shutout against the Lightning on April 17.
Against Florida on April 15, five different goal scorers hit the back of the net, including Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov, Conor Geekie, Jake Guentzel and Darren Raddysh. Right wing Nikita Kucherov finished his regular season at the #1 spot on the NHL leaderboards with 121 points from 37 goals and 84 assists, and as far as we’re concerned, he’s more than likely to dish out at least 1+ assist this game. Left wing Brandon Hagel doesn’t sit too far behind, with 35 goals and 55 assists, with both centers Brayden Points (42 goals and 40 assists) and Jake Guentzel (41 goals and 39 assists) concluding their regular season spectacularly. They’ve got the offensive firepower advantage over the Panthers, boasting the highest goal differential (75) in the entire NHL. Part of their impressive differential can be credited to goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, letting in just 2.18 goals on average per game, 4th overall in the NHL.
With how dominant Tampa Bay is in hitting the back of the opposing net, it’s surprising they are only a No. 2 seed in the playoffs. Both teams are coming off fresh losses, although the Lightning has the Panthers beaten in every category, from more goals scored (294 vs 252) to fewer goals allowed (219 vs 223).
While the Panthers do boast a solid defense, we think the might of Tampa Bay’s wingers may overcome them, especially with league leader Nikita Kucherov on the ice to assist his teammates at least 1+ time(s). The Panthers are headed to Tampa Bay territory playing at the Amalie Arena. With all things considered, including the home stadium advantage, we expect the Lightning will take the win in Game 1.
Liam has been a major sports fan and soccer player for over a decade, with a particular focus on major top-level soccer leagues, including the EPL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and MLS. He has written numerous promotional articles for various top sportsbooks and continues to publish historical and factual sports articles covering the NFL, MLS, NHL, MLB, EPL and more.