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

Jon Cooper said that the rivalry between his Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers can not only be considered the the best in the NHL, but in all of sports.

The Lightning and Panthers have dominated the NHL landscape this decade with the past six Stanley Cup Finals featuring the two Florida teams.

Tampa Bay won the Cup in 2020 and 2021 before losing to Colorado in 2022.

The Panthers lost to Vegas in 2023, but won it all in 2024 and 2025.

And, in a couple of those years, the two had to play each other in the playoffs.

Florida and Tampa Bay met in the postseason for the first time in 2020 with the Lightning winning. Tampa Bay swept the Panthers out of the playoffs in 2022 leading to the hiring of Paul Maurice and the trade for Matthew Tkachuk.

The Panthers are 2-0 against the Lightning in the playoffs since — beating Tampa Bay in the first round in each of the past two seasons.

The two meet for the final time of the regular season tonight in Tampa.

Although the Panthers are outside the playoff picture, if they were to make a run and get in, there is a likelihood these two would go at it in Round 1 again this postseason.

While the Lightning are not making any chances to its lineup, the Panthers are making a bundle.

Details below.

NOTES: PANTHERS at LIGHTNING

• Sandis Vilmanis did not get suspended for his high hit on Boston defenseman Charlie McAvoy midway through the first period of Wednesday’s shootout win. Although Vilmanis left the game after that hit — one that drew a minor for a check to the head — he will play in Tampa.
• The same is not true for Brad Marchand. While he made a triumphant return to the Panthers against the Bruins, he will not play in a road back-to-back after missing eight of 13 games.
• Florida recalled Mikulas Hovorka from AHL Charlotte and he will make his NHL debut tonight in place of Aaron Ekblad.
• Evan Rodrigues is out with illness.
• Toby Bjornfot did not play in the third Wednesday and has been placed on IR.
• Starting Goalies: Daniil Tarasov will get the final start before the long pause. Andrei Vasilevskiy goes for the Lightning.
• How to Watch/Stream: The Panthers can only be streamed tonight — and only if you have ESPN+, Disney+ or Hulu.
• NHL Betting Odds: The Lightning are favorites (-185) on the money line at the local book. To win with Florida (+155), a $100 bet wins $155.

ON DECK: GAME No. 57

FLORIDA PANTHERS at TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

• When: Thursday, 7:30 p.m.
• Where: Benchmark Arena, Tampa
• National Streaming ONLY: ESPN+, Disney+, Hulu
• 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 (-185); Puck Line -1.5 (+130); O/U 5.5 (-145/+115)
• Season Series (Lightning Lead 2-1) — At Florida: Lightning 3, Panthers 1 (Nov. 15); Lightning 4, Panthers 2 (Dec. 27). At Tampa Bay: Panthers 5, Lightning 1 (Dec. 15); Thursday
• Last Regular Season: Tied 2-2
• Last Postseason: Florida won 4-1 (Round 1)
• All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 80-55-19, 10 ties
• All-Time Postgame Series — Tied 2-2: Lightning won 2021 first-round, 2022 ECS; Panthers won 2024, 2025 first-round series
• Up Next for the Panthers: Olympic Break
• Next Game for Florida: Feb. 26 vs. Toronto Maple Leafs, 7 p.m.

PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS (29-24-3) LINES

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

23 Carter Verhaeghe // 9 Sam Bennett // 19 Matthew Tkachuk

15 Sandis Vilmanis // 79 Cole Schwindt // 10 A.J. Greer 

70 Jesper Boqvist // 71 Luke Kunin // 11 Mackie Samoskevich

42 Gus Forsling // 2 Jeff Petry

77 Niko Mikkola // 26 Uvis Balinskis

6 Donovan Sebrango // 96 Mikulas Hovorka

40 Daniil Tarasov

72 Sergei Bobrovsky

Scratched: Brad Marchand, Aaron Ekblad, Evan Rodrigues

Injured: Toby Bjornfot (undisclosed), Seth Jones (collarbone), Sasha Barkov (knee), Tomas Nosek (knee), Dmitry Kulikov (shoulder), Jonah Gadjovich (upper body)

PROJECTED TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (36-14-4) LINES

38 Brandon Hagel // 59 Jake Guentzel // 86 Nikita Kucherov

22 Oliver Bjorkstrand // 17  Dominic James // 93 Gage Goncalves

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

42 Curtis Douglas // 62 Jack Finley // 46 Scott Sabourin

90 J.J. Moser // 43 Darren Raddysh

27 Ryan McDonagh // 81 Erik Cernak

77 Victor Hedman // 67 Declan Carlile

88 Andrei Vasilevskiy

31 Jonas Johansson

Scratched: Max Crozier

Injured: Brayden Point (lower body), Emil Lilleberg (undisclosed), Charle-Edouard D’Astous (undisclosed), Anthony Cirelli (upper body), Nick Paul (undisclosed)