TAMPA — On one hand, it’s not going to take much for the Florida Panthers to get back into this series against the Tampa Bay Lightning. But to do so, winning Game 3 on enemy ice is not going to come easy.

The Panthers, by losing the first two games of this best-of-7 series, have dug themselves into a big hole especially since those two losses came at home in front of a raucous crowd.

Game 3 of the series shifts to Amalie Arena in Tampa, where Florida won two of four games during the regular season.

If we have learned anything from the first two games, it is that the regular season series against the Lightning doesn’t mean a hill of beans.

The Panthers have to get over the disappointment of losing the first two games of a series they had home ice in and try to make this a series.

Winning Game 3 on Thursday changes the complexion of the whole thing.

“We have to stick together as a team,” said captain Sasha Barkov, who led all skaters with 26:28 of ice time in Tuesday’s 3-1 loss.

“We had huge support from our fans in this building. We loved it. We enjoyed it. We just couldn’t come up with wins. We’re going to battle until the end. We’re going to give it everything we have every game, every shift.”

Said Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos: “The series is definitely not over.We’ve been in these positions before, we’ve been on both ends of these positions before. We certainly know that team over there is not quitting. They’re not going anywhere.They’re a really good team and it took a huge effort for us to be up 2-0. We definitely can’t take the foot off the gas pedal, because we know how hard it is to win this time of the year. We’ll be expecting their best in Game 3.”

MacKenzie Weegar had a frustrating night on Tuesday, getting hit with a couple of penalties as well as getting beat by Brayden Point on what turned into Tampa Bay’s second goal.

Still, after the game, he was as full of positivity as ever. He had a bad game. Weegar wasn’t alone. If the Panthers can fix a few things, they can get back into this.

The Panthers may have the best team they have ever iced and Weegar says Florida’s battle is just getting started.

“We’re not even close out of this series yet,” said Weegar, who has had such a big season, he has been mentioned as a potential Norris Trophy finalist.

“We played great all year on the road. We’ve just got to stick with it here. No one is hanging their head around here. We’re going to move on to this next game and we’re gonna bring it. We’re going to bring it to them in their own rink. We’ve got nothing to lose, the pressure’s on them. We’re gonna bring it to them.”

LINEUP CHANGES?

The Panthers have second-line center Sam Bennett back after he was suspended for Tuesday’s game for his charge on Blake Coleman in the third period of Game 1.

With Bennett out Tuesday, Joel Quenneville played seven defensemen (Anton Stralman got in) and 11 forwards.

Quenneville said he was likely going back to six d-men, but which ones?

Stralman appears to be in with Radko Gudas — with Keith Yandle out.

Yandle had three turnovers on Tuesday night and and played under 14 minutes.

The first power play unit also struggled down the stretch and went 1-for-6 in the opening two games.

The Panthers, with about 20 players waiting in the wings, could also make a change or two to their forward corps. Rookie Grigori Denisenko looked good at the end of the season and free agent signee Nikita Gusev has not played since last Saturday’s win over Tampa.

Florida may just be desperate enough to make some changes although Quenneville admitted he does not want to make too many because he does like the way the Panthers have been playing as a team.

While fans may be upset this team is in a 2-0 hole, Florida has been in position to either be even or, if the puck went its way, up 2-0.

The Lightning has found a way to win these close games and the Panthers have not.

WHO IS IN GOAL?

The Panthers had a decision to make in net.

Chris Driedger gave up two goals off 28 shots in the Game 2 loss and is the slight favorite to return for Game 3.

Driedger came out and took the starter net for morning skate so it appears he is in.

There was a thought Sergei Bobrovsky, who gave up five goals on 40 shots in Game 1, could return as his veteran presence may be better suited for the hostile environment which awaits the Panthers.

Driedger made his first postseason appearance of his professional career — that includes AHL and ECHL — on Tuesday.

“I thought he did well, he gave up a couple funny, flukey goals right off the bat,’’ Quenneville said on his weekly chat with the Joe Rose Show on WQAM-560.

“We were playing pretty well and it was one of those things where we worked ourselves back into the game. He did what he had to do, he made some saves which were important as the game went along. Tampa was pressing at certain times but not like they were earlier in the game. I thought he did a good job, he was solid, he was square and kept us in the game. … Driedge was fine in the net, for sure.”

COACH ‘EM UP

Quenneville said it was cool to see Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores not only narrate the team’s pump-up video, but to get the crowd riled up from his suite at the arena.

Flores, who was a Boston College classmate of Florida assistant GM Brett Peterson, was shown on the center video board waving his white rally towel while wearing a Panthers’ playoff golf shirt.

“I know Brett. I was looking for my Florida Panthers hat this morning,’’ Flores said when the Panthers hired Peterson, making him the first Black assistant GM in NHL history. “Yeah, I’m excited for Brett. We went to school together. I think they got a great hire.”

No word on whether Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians will be at Game 3 firing up the Amalie Arena crowd.

”Let’s give him a shift. I love it. He’s competitive,” Quenneville told Rose. “Great support and we appreciate it. We love that stuff.”

2021 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

ROUND 1

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING VS. FLORIDA PANTHERS

TAMPA BAY LEADS 2-0 IN BEST-OF-7 SERIES

GAME 3

PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS LINEUP

FLORIDA FORWARDS

23 Carter Verhaeghe — 16 Sasha Barkov — 19 Mason Marchment

11 Jonathan Huberdeau — 9 Sam Bennett — 74 Owen Tippett

77 Frank Vatrano — 21 Alex Wennberg — 70 Patric Hornqvist

94 Ryan Lomberg — 55 Noel Acciari — 91 Anthony Duclair

FLORIDA DEFENSEMEN

42 Gus Forsling — 52 MacKenzie Weegar

65 Markus Nutivaara — 62 Brandon Montour

6 Anton Stralman — 7 Radko Gudas

FLORIDA GOALIES

60 Chris Driedger

72 Sergei Bobrovsky

Reserves: D Keith Yandle, F Aleksi Heponiemi, F Grigori Denisenko, F Juho Lammikko, F Eetu Luostarinen, D Matt Kiersted, F Nikita Gusev, F Lucas Wallmark, G Spencer Knight, D Chase Priskie, D Lucas Carlsson, D John Ludvig, D Vladislav Kolyachonok, D Kevin Connauton, F Cole Schwindt, F Scott Wilson, G Sam Montembeault, G Philippe Desrosiers, D Brady Keeper

Injured: D Noah Juulsen (UBI, TBD); D Aaron Ekblad (leg, out this series)

Florida power play (1/6 17%)

PP1: Sasha Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, Patric Hornqvist, Sam Bennett, Keith Yandle

PP2: Alex Wennberg, Carter Verhaeghe, Frank Vatrano, Brandon Montour, MacKenzie Weegar

Florida penalty kill (4/7 57%)

PROJECTED TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING LINEUP

TAMPA BAY FORWARDS

18 Ondrej Palat — 21 Brayden Point — 86 Nikita Kucherov

17 Alex Killorn — 71 Anthony Cirelli  — 91 Steven Stamkos 

79 Ross Colton — 37 Yanni Gourde — 20 Blake Coleman

14 Pat Maroon — 9 Tyler Johnson — 7 Mathieu Joseph

TAMPA BAY DEFENSEMEN

77 Victor Hedman — 44 Jan Rutta

27 Ryan McDonagh — 81 Erik Cernak

98 Mikhail Sergachev — 58 David Savard

TAMPA BAY GOALIES

88 Andrei Vasilevskiy

35 Curtis McElhinney

Tampa Bay power play (3/7 43%)

PP1: Ondrej Palat, Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman

PP2: Alex Killorn, Anthony Cirelli, Yanni Gourde, Tyler Johnson, Ryan McDonagh

Tampa Bay penalty kill (5/6 83%)