Rivalry Between Florida Panthers and Lightning Keeps Going

SUNRISE — The Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning have existed since the early 1990s, but their natural geographic proximity did not generate a true on-ice bitter rivalry until the 2020s.

On Monday, the two played yet another tight contest — one that was certainly not as chippy as many prior meetings of these two combatants.

Perhaps, as Paul Maurice hinted, the absence of agitator Matthew Tkachuk had something to do with that.

Regardless, it was a Monday night in Sunrise, and the Panthers and Lightning slugged it out with Florida pulling out a 2-1 win thanks in great part to a pair of goals from Sasha Barkov, some strong goaltending from Sergei Bobrovsky, and a little puck luck from the Boys from Broward.

“The atmosphere was great, obviously they have a good team and we have a good team,” Bobrovsky said. “It was fun hockey. When two good teams play, there is good bite, good energy.’’

Florida and Tampa Bay play each other once more this season, but there may just be more come April.

For the second straight year, we may see the Panthers and Lightning in the first round.

Florida, which sits second in the Atlantic by a fractions, has a five-point lead on the Lighting which is in third.

If neither catches the Maple Leafs, Round 1 it is.

And what a rivalry this has become.

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“The game just before Christmas here was nasty,” Maurice said, referencing the 63 penalty minutes between the two in Tampa Bay’s 4-0 win.

“I was fully expecting that again. It wasn’t there. So, what happened is, you get two teams fighting for first place now. …The tenor of the game is there was something on the line. … It was kind of respectfully played.”

Both teams were riding hot streaks.

Tampa Bay had won its past eight and were 9-0-1; Florida won eight of ten and were on a three-game run.

Teams don’t get much hotter than that.

The close on-ice battle was nip and tuck all the way.

Goalies Andrei Vasilevskiy and Sergei Bobrovsky put on a show.

If it had not been for Bobrovsky’s save on a shorthanded breakaway by Ryan McDonagh with under 3 minutes left, the outcome might have been different.

Shot attempts were 64-62 in favor of the Lightning, but the Panthers were the heavy hitters, with 38 hits to a mere 12 for the Lightning.

Then there were the posts hit, including by the Lightning in the final seconds.

Tampa Bay’s Nick Paul acknowledged that it was a battle right to the flurry before the final buzzer.

“It’s a good team out there. Two teams going at it,” he said. “I thought we could have had a little more energy in the first and second, but we came back and gave ourselves a chance to win that game. Off the post at the end. We’ve just got to turn the page and look forward to tomorrow.”

Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper lamented his team’s lack of scoring on the power play. Florida killed off seven.

“We had 10-plus minutes of power-play time and can’t tuck one in,” Cooper said. “That, ultimately, was probably the difference. I can’t say it took momentum, because we got stronger as the game went on. … It was two really good teams, and it was a good hockey game.”

So, how did we get to this point in the rivalry?

Over the past few seasons, these two teams have seen just enough of each other to develop obligatory animosities.

From 1993-2001, the cross-state rivals never met in the playoffs. The count is three now, with a fourth likely coming.

In the past two regular seasons, Florida is 4-2.

The real battles, of course, come in the playoffs.

The State of Florida has been represented in the past five Stanley Cup Finals.

A team from Florida team has won the Stanley Cup in three of the past five years. The Panthers and Lightning have had to go through each other three times in that span.

Last season, the tide finally turned in favor of the Panthers.

In their march to the Cup, the Panthers trounced Tampa Bay 4-1 in the opening round.

That was retribution for being swept by the Lightning in the second round of the 2022 playoffs.

To add to the embarrassment, that was the year Florida won the President’s Trophy.

In the shortened 2021 season, with the temporary geographic realignments, Tampa Bay bested Florida again, in a playoff series not as close as the 4-2 edge would indicate.

During that regular season the teams knocked heads eight times with Florida taking a 5-2-1 advantage. Between the regular season and the playoffs, the teams saw each other 14 times.

The Panthers and Lightning meet one more time this regular season, at Tampa in the season’s final game. 

There is a reasonable possibility that the rivals will meet again in this year’s playoffs.

There is no truce in sight.

Which, is fine.

ON DECK: GAME No. 63

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS at FLORIDA PANTHERS

• When: Thursday, 7 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SW Fla)
• Streaming: Panthers+; ESPN+
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• This Season (Panthers lead 1-0) — At Florida: Thursday. At Columbus: Panthers 4, Blues Jackets 3 (Oct. 15); March 20.
• Last Season: Panthers Won 3-0
• All-time Regular Season Series: Columbus leads 26-21-4
• Up Next for the Panthers: Saturday vs. Buffalo Sabres, 6 p.m.