Battle of Florida Leans South, Panthers Take Control of Rivalry

On the two-year anniversary of the Panthers epic Game 7 victory over the Boston Bruins, the Panthers ended their rivalry series by beating the Lightning in 5 on Wednesday night.

Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper, in his postgame praise of the Panthers, mused that if the Panthers do not rally from a 3-1 deficit to upset the Bruins in 2023, perhaps this Florida team does not become a true NHL powerhouse.

And, perhaps the Lightning continue to run the Sunshine State.

As it stands now, Florida belongs to the Panthers.

“They have an exceptional team, not an average team, they are an exceptional team,” Cooper said after Florida won 6-3 in Tampa on Wednesday. “I think, two years ago, when they are down 3-1 to the Presidents’ Trophy champs, they come back and win that series. If they don’t come back and win, who knows what happens to that team.

“They come back, they win, and get a good vibe about how to win. And that’s earned, and it’s learned. Fortunately for us, we’ve had that for 10-12 years. You’re not going to win every single playoff series, but they built a team, got a sniff of it, went to the Final and didn’t win. They came back, went to the Final and won. Who knows what they will do this year, but they now know how to do it.

“Only a few teams really know how to do it, and we were one of them and now, they are one of them.”

Tampa Bay knows what it means to own the in-state rivalry, and, Cooper is smart enough to know that those days are behind them at least right now.

The Lightning, with three Stanley Cup championships, are still the gold standard for hockey in this state.

But the Panthers are coming on strong.

Over the past five postseasons, one of these two teams have represented the Eastern Conference and played for the Stanley Cup.

Tampa Bay won it in 2020 and 2021, falling to the Avalanche in the 2022 Final.

The Panthers lost to Vegas in 2023 before bringing the Stanley Cup to Fort Lauderdale for a dip in the Atlantic last summer for the first time.

Many pundits not only picked the Lightning to win this round, but also had the Bolts going all the way.

A lot of them have jumped on the Panthers bandwagon.

Yeah, hockey in Florida is doing just fine.

The Panthers and Lightning may not like each other all that much, but they respect one another — and have done a pretty nice job of growing this sport in a foreign land.

“Two teams, right in their prime, very competitive men,” Florida’s Paul Maurice said. “Tampa has had success, so, it got nasty this year because of the playoffs last year and the fact that we’re rivals. We’re also at the same place with our teams, we’re legitimate teams. It’s good to be the ticket sales guy in both cities.”

2025 NHL STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS: GAME 1

FLORIDA PANTHERS v. OTTAWA/TORONTO WINNER

Toronto Leads Best-of-7 Series v. Senators 3-2

V. TORONTO

• This Season (Panthers Won 3-1) — At Florida: Panthers 5, Leafs 1 (Nov.27); Panthers 3, Leafs 1 (Ap. 8). At Toronto: Panthers 3, Maple Leafs 2 (March 14); Maple Leafs 3, Panthers 2 (April 2).
• Last Regular Season: Tied 2-2
• All-time Regular Season Series: Toronto leads 51-40-7, 7 ties
• All-time Postseason: Panthers d. Maple Leafs 4-1 (2023 ECS)

V. OTTAWA

• This Season (Ottawa Won 2-1) — At Ottawa: Senators 3, Panthers 1 (Oct 10); Senators 3, Panthers 0 (Ap. 5). At Florida: Panthers 5, Senators 1 (Feb. 8).
• Last Regular Season: Panthers won 4-0
• All-time Regular Season Series: Ottawa leads 59-49-5, 3 ties
• All-time Postseason: Would be first meeting