Florida seeks 2-0 series lead on road; Cirelli questionable for Tampa Bay
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TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Lightning are hoping for a better effort when they seek to even the best-of-7 Eastern Conference First Round against the Florida Panthers in Game 2 at Amalie Arena on Thursday (6:30 p.m. ET; FDSNSUN, SCRIPPS, MAX, truTV, TBS, TVAS2, SN360).
The Lightning came into the series against the Panthers having gone 20-7-4 from Feb. 4 on to rise up the standings from the second wild-card spot in the East to second in the Atlantic Division.
But in Game 1 they faltered, falling to the Panthers 6-2 on Tuesday, allowing three power-play goals and letting the game get away from them in the second period. Not that they’re overly worried.
“The sun came out this morning and I don’t think anyone in here expected us to win in four,” forward Brandon Hagel said on Wednesday. “There’s a lot of hockey left. It’s one game.”
The Panthers, though, came out on fire, seemingly having flipped the switch from the regular season to the playoffs as soon as the Game 1 anthems were over. It was a good sign for the defending Stanley Cup champions, who had played lackluster hockey in the run-up to the postseason, especially with forward Matthew Tkachuk (injury) and defenseman Aaron Ekblad (suspended) out.
“We’ve been waiting a long time for this moment,” defenseman Gustav Forsling said. “You could see everyone was very excited and happy to be back in the playoffs.”
Teams that take a 2-0 lead in a best-of-7 series have a record of 353-56 (.863).
The Panthers and Lightning continue the Battle for Florida tonight
Here is a breakdown of Game 2:
Panthers: Even though he scored two goals, coach Paul Maurice called Matthew Tkachuk “OK” in Game 1, his first after missing the past two months and the final 25 games of the regular season after a lower-body injury at the 4 Nations Face-Off. With those two goals and an assist, Tkachuk now has 49 points (19 goals, 30 assists) in the past three postseasons for the Panthers. He can become the first player in franchise history to score multiple goals in each of the team’s first two games of the playoffs if he does so in Game 2.
Lightning: Anthony Cirelli played 6:21 in Game 1, leaving early in the second period. Cirelli, who averaged 2:03 on the penalty kill in the regular season, is the Lightning’s top defensive forward and a significant piece for a team that has been playing with 11 forwards and seven defensemen. Cirelli will see if he can take warmups for the Lightning and, if he’s cleared to play, will be in the lineup. It could be a significant swing for a team that struggled to stop the Panthers on the power play in Game 1. The Panthers were able to create a lot of traffic directly in front of goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy leading to multiple goals. The Lightning will aim to keep that from happening to enable their future Hall of Fame goalie better sightlines and more of a chance to keep Florida off the board.
Number to know: 3-for-3. The Lightning penalty kill was sixth-best in the NHL during the regular season, at 81.6 percent. But in Game 1, the Panthers went 3-for-3 on the power play, with two power-play goals by Tkachuk and one by Nate Schmidt.
What to look for: Does Vasilevskiy, one of the best and most experienced playoff goalies in the NHL, come back with a better performance in Game 2? Can the Panthers build on their success on the power play and take a 2-0 lead back home?
🔹Ottawa Senators vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
🔹Florida Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
🔹Montreal Canadiens vs. Washington Capitals
🔹New Jersey Devils vs. Carolina Hurricanes
🔹St. Louis Blues vs. Winnipeg Jets
🔹Colorado Avalanche vs. Dallas Stars
🔹Minnesota Wild vs. Vegas Golden Knights
🔹Edmonton Oilers vs. Los Angeles Kings
“They’re going to come out flying, like they did last game. We’ve just got to stay calm and weather the storm and go from there.” — Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling
“A little bit of everything. A little bit of the forecheck, a little bit of creating more O-zone time, breaking the puck out a little cleaner. Every aspect of the game we can find ways to improve it a little bit. We’re excited for today.” — Lightning forward Yanni Gourde, on what the team can improve from Game 1
Panthers projected lineup
Carter Verhaeghe — Aleksander Barkov — Sam Reinhart
Mackie Samoskevich — Sam Bennett — Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen — Anton Lundell — Brad Marchand
Evan Rodrigues — Nico Sturm — Jesper Boqvist
Gustav Forsling — Seth Jones
Niko Mikkola — Dmitry Kulikov
Uvis Balinskis — Nate Schmidt
Sergei Bobrovsky
Vitek Vanecek
Scratched: Tomas Nosek, A.J. Greer, Jonah Gadjovich, Jaycob Megna
Injured: None
Suspended: Aaron Ekblad
Lightning projected lineup
Gage Goncalves — Brayden Point — Nikita Kucherov
Jake Guentzel — Nick Paul — Brandon Hagel
Conor Geekie — Yanni Gourde — Mitchell Chaffee
Zemgus Girgensons — Luke Glendening
Victor Hedman — JJ Moser
Ryan McDonagh — Erik Cernak
Emil Lilleberg — Nick Perbix
Darren Raddysh
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Jonas Johansson
Scratched: Cam Atkinson
Injured: Oliver Bjorkstrand (lower-body injury), Anthony Cirelli (undisclosed)
Status report
Ekblad will serve the final game of his 20-game suspension for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program; the defenseman will be eligible to return for Game 3 on Saturday. If Cirelli isn’t able to play, Chaffee will take his spot in the lineup and make his playoff debut this season after playing in five postseason games in 2024.
