The opening act of the first-ever Sunshine State Showdown playoff series between the Panthers and Lightning sure didn’t disappoint.

Actually, it dazzled.

This Game 1 between the rival Panthers and Lightning on Sunday night was everything we anticipated, and more.

It was like an entire seven games was rolled up into one dramatic 5-4 Lightning victory at BB&T Center.

It had bone-crushing hits, nasty skirmishes, stellar saves by both Vezina Trophy-winning goalies (Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky and Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy) and red-light specials from both teams’ superstars — Sasha Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau for the Panthers and Nikita Kucherov for the Lightning.

Not to mention five lead changes, two of them in the final period.

“Very intense game,” a hoarse Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said afterward. “It was a heck of a hockey game.”

If you’re a hockey fan with no dog in this fight, you were no doubt saying after the start to this first-round series, ‘I’ll take six more of these, please.’  

If you’re a Lightning fan, you’re probably feeling relieved.

If you’re a Panthers fan, you probably feel you let one get away.

But you also must be confident that even with the sniper Kucherov and captain Steven Stamkos back in the Lightning lineup, your team can not only hang with, but beat, the defending Stanley Cup champions.

That is if you’ve been able to emotionally recover from the gut-punches Brayden Point delivered in the third period Sunday night, first tying the game on a power-play goal with seven minutes left and then scoring the game-winner with 74 seconds left on a breakaway — going forehand, backhand, five-hole to beat goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. Yep, that same center who led the NHL last postseason with 14 goals.

Just when it seemed the Lightning’s perfect regular-season record (26-0-0) when leading after two periods would be blemished, it remained intact.

“I think the games that we got beat by them this year, there’s a lot of frustration knowing that you think you deserve better, but that’s the difference between teams that know how to win,” Quenneville said. “We’re looking to get educated.”

That last goal was the Lightning’s only even-strength score of the night.

Blake Coleman started the scoring in this wild back-and-forth affair with a beautiful backhand that whizzed under Bobrovsky’s right arm for a short-handed goal.

Kucherov scored twice on a power play in his first game after missing the entire regular season because of offseason hip surgery (so much for rust). And Point got the equalizer at 4-all with a man-advantage as well.

“Their power play was the difference tonight,” Quenneville said.

Lightning winger Pat Maroon had said before the teams’ two matchups to end the regular season that he wanted the Panthers to be thinking when they left the rink last Monday night, “Holy shit, we’re playing the Tampa Bay Lightning” in the first round.

No such luck.

But after Game 1, the Panthers might be muttering to themselves, “Holy shit, here comes the Lightning power play” every time someone wearing their sweater gets sent to the penalty box.

This is a potential major problem for the Panthers as this series progresses.

That stood out Sunday night. But so, too, did the fact that 5-on-5, the Panthers are every bit as good as the Lightning, and even better, if they can replicate their remarkable first period of Game 1.

Before puck drop, the atmosphere inside BB&T Center was electric, even in a half-empty building that featured an announced 9,646 fans – twice as much as the regular season, due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Barkov said the atmosphere gave him “goosebumps.”

It grew even more electric after Barkov fired in a slap shot from the right circle on one knee for the Panthers’ first postseason goal. Rats flew on the ice. The rodents would continue to come. Barkov fed Carter Verhaeghe for Verhaeghe’s first career playoff goal, against his former team. That gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead they’d take into the first intermission.

They fired 18 shots on goal and racked up 23 hits in the first period. It was a hell of a period, a blend of skill and physicality they’ll need plenty more of to pull off a series victory. It was a better indication of why the Panthers can win this series than a meaningless 5-2-1 record against the Lightning in the regular season.

“We were excited to get it going and got the result we wanted in the first period,” Barkov said. “After that, we kind of stopped playing the same way. But I’m really happy with the first period. That’s how you want to try and play the whole game.”

In the second period, the Panthers’ first shot on goal didn’t come until a power play more than eight minutes in and they took four costly penalties — Sam Bennett for holding, Brandon Montour for slashing, Markus Nutivaara for tripping and Ryan Lomberg for roughing.

If not for an incredible save midway through the second period by center Noel Acciari, who blocked Erik Cernak’s shot on a wide-open net with his body, the Panthers would have started the third period trailing by two goals.

Instead, Owen Tippett pulled them even 4:09 into the third on Huberdeau’s pass and third point of the night.

More that we learned Sunday night: The Panthers can score on Vasilevskiy, even with the Lightning at full strength. Of course, minutes after the heartbreaking finish wasn’t the time for the Panthers’ coach to break down Game 1.

“After games … the emotions are too raw,” Quenneville noted. “We’ll dissect [the loss] with a fresher mind, but there are a lot of positives to take out of it. There are some things we know we have to improve.”

Said Barkov: “It’s a long series. You have to win four games, so anything can happen. Every game is different.”

Who knows what’s in store for Game 2 on Tuesday? We can only hope the second installment of the Sunshine State Showdown — playoff edition — is as fun as Game 1 was to watch.

Steve Gorten has covered the Florida Panthers for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and the Columbus Blue Jackets for the Columbus Dispatch.

He is now a columnist for Florida Hockey Now. Follow him @sgorten

PANTHERS ON DECK

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS, ROUND 1

GAME 2: LIGHTNING AT PANTHERS

TAMPA BAY LEADS BEST-OF-7 SERIES 1-0

• When: Tuesday, 8 p.m.
• Where: BB&T Center, Sunrise
• Tickets: AVAILABLE HERE
• Regular season series: Florida won 5-2-1
• TV: CNBC, BS-FLA
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM