Panthers GameDay at Lightning: How to Watch, Lines, Goalies, Odds

The Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning have played each other more than any team in their shared history, with four meetings in the Stanley Cup playoffs just since 2021.

The two teams have split those series: Tampa Bay won the first two postseason series, the Panthers the past two.

So, suffice it to say, these two know each other pretty darned well.

Tonight, the rivalry renews in Tampa’s renamed arena. The Lightning hold first place in the Atlantic Division, Florida five points back.

According to Paul Maurice, the Panthers and Lightning are two teams with a lot of similarities — and not only have the same goal in mind, but know what it takes to get there.

“Both teams are systematically almost identical,’’ Maurice said. “Stylistically, completely different although maybe not as much as we used to be. You have World Class, elite guys up front, a heavy back end that can move, and some phenomenal goaltending. There are a few differences, but far more similarities. And they both have won, so the players know how hard you have to play to win it.

“We had a couple of quiet games where everyone seemed to be surprised, a couple of 2-1s where it never caught fire. But most of them are very intense, very fast.’’

The Lightning beat the Panthers in the first meeting last month in Sunrise, holding a 2-1 lead in the third before ending it with an empty-net goal.

NOTEBOOK: PANTHERS AT LIGHTNING

• Starting Goalies: Sergei Bobrovsky returns after getting the shutout in Dallas on Saturday night. Tampa Bay will go with Jonas Johansson. Andrei Vasilevskiy is back skating but will not play tonight.
• How to Watch/Stream: The Panthers are back on local TV tonight but can be watched nationally on NHL Network. The game can be streamed at Panthers+ — but not on ESPN+.
• NHL Betting Odds: The Lightning are favorites (-130) on the money line at the local book. To win with the Lightning, a $130 bet pays $100. If you bet the Panthers on the money line (+110), a $100 wager wins $110 if Florida pulls this out.

ON DECK: GAME No. 32

FLORIDA PANTHERS at TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

• When: Monday, 7 p.m.
• Where: Benchmark Arena, Tampa
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
• National TV: NHL Network
• Local Streaming: Panthers+
• Radio: WQAM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Local Betting Odds — Lightning Favored: MoneyLine (-130); Puck Line -1.5 (+180); O/U 5.5 (-130/+105)
• Season Series (Lightning Lead 1-0) — At Florida: Lightning 3, Panthers 1 (Nov. 15); Dec. 27. At Tampa Bay: Dec. 15; Feb. 5
• Last Regular Season: Tied 2-2
• Last Postseason: Florida won 4-1 (Round 1)
• All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 79-54-19, 10 ties
• All-Time Postgame Series — Tied 2-2: Lightning won 2021 first-round, 2022 ECS; Panthers won 2024, 2025 first-round series

PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS (16-13-2) LINES

27 Eetu Luostarinen // 15 Anton Lundell // 13 Sam Reinhart

23 Carter Verhaeghe // 9 Sam Bennett // 63 Brad Marchand 

10 A.J. Greer // 17 Evan Rodrigues // 11 Mackie Samoskevich

70 Jesper Boqvist // 53 Jack Studnicka // 18 Noah Gregor

42 Gus Forsling // 5 Aaron Ekblad

77 Niko Mikkola // 3 Seth Jones

26 Uvis Balinskis // 2 Jeff Petry

72 Sergei Bobrovsky

40 Daniil Tarasov

Scratched: Luke Kunin, Donovan Sebrango

Returned to Charlotte: Jack Devine

Injured: Sasha Barkov (knee), Matthew Tkachuk (lower body), Tomas Nosek (knee), Dmitry Kulikov (shoulder), Jonah Gadjovich (upper body), Cole Schwindt (broken arm)

PROJECTED TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (18-11-3) LINES

38 Brandon Hagel // 71 Anthony Cirelli // 86 Nikita Kucherov

59 Jake Guentzel // 21 Brayden Point //22 Oliver Bjorkstrand

29 Pontus Holmberg // 37 Yanni Gourde // 28 Zemgus Girgensons

42 Curtis Douglas // 20 Nick Paul // 46 Scott Sabourin

90 J.J. Moser // 43 Darren Raddysh

51 Charle-Edouard D’Astous // 24 Max Crozier

67 Declan Carlile // 16 Steven Santini

31 Jonas Johansson

33 Brandon Halverson

Scratched: Gage Goncalves

Injured: Ryan McDonagh (undisclosed), Erik Cernak (undisclosed), Andrei Vasilevskiy (undisclosed), Victor Hedman (elbow), Dominic James (undisclosed), Emil Lilleberg (undisclosed)