Little Went Right for Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1 v Panthers

In a game in which the story line going in was the return of Matthew Tkachuk (who did not disappoint), the story within the story was just how many things could have possibly gone wrong for the Tampa Bay Lightning in its playoff opener against the Florida Panthers.

Florida’s usual playoff sharpshooters — Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, and Sam Bennett — did their thing.

With four goals between them in Tuesday’s 6-2 win, they have a combined 74 career playoff goals.

Coach Jon Cooper’s initial move which backfired was his decision to go with 11 forwards and seven defensemen as Tampa Bay is wont to do.

When Anthony Cirelli left the game early in the second and did not return, Cooper was left with only 10 forwards.

Three — Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, and Gage Goncalves — each logged more than 20 minutes of ice time, Kucherov leading the way at 23:15.

During the regular season, Kucherov averaged 21:11.

Gonsalves averaged only 12:48.

The Lightning were behind the 8-ball early on, when Mackie Samoskevich outraced Erik Cernak for a loose puck and elevated a pass to ‘Playoff Sam’ Bennett who batted it past Andrei Vasilevskiy like he was laying down a sacrifice bunt.

For the Lightning, the game began to go downhill when Nate Schmidt raced in from the point to push a loose puck past Vasilevskiy.

For some reason, Cooper decided to challenge for goaltender interference.

It didn’t take long for the official review to go against the Lightning, costing them a delay of game penalty and putting the Panthers on the power play.

“A penalty hurts if you get scored on,” Cooper said postgame.“That’s part of why, I suppose, the rule is in there. What could I say? The coach has got to eat it.”

Just 14 seconds in, Tkachuk notched his first goal since February 8. He missed the last 25 regular season games after being injured in the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Tkachuk scored another power-play goal less than five minutes later.

Schmidt added a second goal, this time on the power play, in the third.

The Panthers three power-play goals came on only three shots.

During the regular season the Lightning had an 81.6 percent penalty kill rate, 6th best in the NHL.

Florida’s six goals came on only 16 shots. Not vintage Vasilevskiy.

“You give up sixteen shots, that’s usually a good night,’’ Victor Hedman mused postgame. “But tonight, it wasn’t that.”

Schmidt became only the second defenseman in Panthers’ history to record a multiple-goal playoff game. Brandon Montour did it twice.

Cooper, as is his characteristic style, looked at the game as a singular loss and not the end  of the day.

“I love this team. They try. They’re always trying, and they did that again tonight,’’ he said. “Sometimes the results aren’t there. Most nights they are.  We can sit here and dissect this game all we want.

“But we lost. Whether you lose 6-2 or 1-0 in overtime. We lost the game. Turn the page and move on. Let’s sit here in 48 hours or whatever it is and dissect that one. This one’s over.”

Paul Maurice echoed Cooper’s sentiments. He has stated many times that he is not a believer in momentum.

“It will be a complete reset for the next game by both teams,” Maurice said.

2025 NHL STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

EASTERN CONFERENCE 1ST ROUND: GAME 2

FLORIDA PANTHERS at TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

Panthers Lead Best-of-7 Series 1-0

• When: Thursday, 6:30 p.m.
• Where: Amalie Arena, Tampa
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
• National TV: TBS/truTV
• Streaming: Panthers+, MAX
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Series Schedule — Game 1: Florida 6, @ Tampa Bay 2; Game 2 at Tampa: Thursday, 6:30 (TBS/Scripps); Game 3 at Florida: Saturday, 1 (TBS/Scripps); Game 4 at Florida: Monday, April 28, 7 (ESPN/Scripps); Game 5* at Tampa: Wednesday, April 30 (TBA); Game 6* at Florida: Friday, May 2 (TBA); Game 7* at Tampa: Sunday, May 4 (TBA).
• Regular Season Series: Tied 2-2
• All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 79-53-19, 10 ties
• All-Time Postgame Series: Tampa Bay Leads 2-1 (won 2021 first-round, 2022 ECS); Florida d. Lightning 4-1 in 2024 first-round.