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TAMPA — The Florida Panthers kicked off their Stanley Cup title defense with a dominant display.
Matthew Tkachuk scored twice in his long-awaited return to the lineup to lead the Panthers to a 6-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning and give them a 1-0 series lead on Tuesday, April 22.
Sam Bennett got the scoring started 3:44 into the first period, tipping home a saucer pass from Mackie Samoskevich off the rush. Jake Guentzel tied things up for Tampa with a power-play goal off a rebound of a Nikita Kucherov slap shot with 7:39 to go in the first period.
Sam Reinhart gave the Panthers the lead back with 45 seconds to go in the first period, tipping home a Dmitry Kulikov shot. And then Florida ran away with it in the second period.
More: STANLEY CUP TRAVELS:How Florida Panthers celebrated with NHL championship trophy all over the world
Nate Schmidt scored 4:41 into the second period, potting home a loose puck off a rebound to make it 3-1. After Tampa Bay unsuccessfully challenged the goal for goaltender interference, Tkachuk cashed in with a quick power play goal 14 seconds later to give Florida a three-goal lead.
Tkachuk struck again with yet another power play goal — a wide-angle shot that squeaked past Andrei Vasilevskiy — with 10:16 to go in the second period. Brayden Point finally came up with an answer for Tampa Bay with 6:56 to go in the second period, but the three-goal deficit was too big for the Lightning to dig out of.
The Panthers return to the ice for Game 2 of the series in Tampa on Thursday, April 24 at 6:30 p.m.
Here are three takeaways from Florida’s Game 1 victory over the Lightning:
Tkachuk re-introduced himself to the lineup with thunder against the rival Lightning.
After missing the last two months of the regular season with a lower-body injury he sustained at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, Tkachuk opened the 2025 postseason with a dominant two-goal performance.
He scored his first of the night with a slick backhand-forehand move on a power play after Sam Reinhart found him wide open near the front of the net. His second was a wide-angle shot through traffic on yet another power play.
Florida’s power play was missing Tkachuk down the stretch in the regular season, finishing the year with the 19th-best power play percentage (21.4) in the league. He also helped set the tone for Florida emotionally, throwing two hits in the first period to help get things started.
In 2022, the Panthers only scored three goals when the Lightning swept them in their second-round series. The Panthers doubled that total in Game 1 three years later by doing something they failed to do in that series — get bodies to the front of the net.
Florida scored its first two goals off deflections and three more off shots through heavy screens in front of the net. That is the way to beat Vasilevskiy, who was dominant in the regular season to the tune of 38-20-5 record with a .921 save percentage and a 2.18 goals-against average.
That added element of physicality on the forecheck and near the front of the net was exactly how the Panthers developed into the team that won the Stanley Cup in 2024. And it was still there when they opened up the postseason a year later.
One of the biggest concerns surrounding the Panthers was how its blueline would fare against Tampa Bay’s potent offense without Aaron Ekblad for the first two games.
The Panthers held the speedy Lightning offense to just six combined high-danger chances in the first two periods. Florida even generated offense from its blueline, with Schmidt scoring two goals and Kulikov, who was playing up on the second pairing in Ekblad’s absence, picking up an assist off of a deflected shot.
Ekblad will miss one more game due to a 20-game suspension for performance-enhancing substance use handed down in March. But the Panthers are now in good shape after having stolen home-ice advantage ahead of his anticipated return for Game 3 in Sunrise.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida Panthers defeat Tampa Bay Lightning in opening game of Stanley Cup playoffs
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Matthew Tkachuk scored twice in his long-awaited return to the lineup to lead the Panthers to a 6-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning and give them a 1-0 series lead on Tuesday, April 22.
Sam Bennett got the scoring started 3:44 into the first period, tipping home a saucer pass from Mackie Samoskevich off the rush. Jake Guentzel tied things up for Tampa with a power-play goal off a rebound of a Nikita Kucherov slap shot with 7:39 to go in the first period.
Sam Reinhart gave the Panthers the lead back with 45 seconds to go in the first period, tipping home a Dmitry Kulikov shot. And then Florida ran away with it in the second period.
More: STANLEY CUP TRAVELS:How Florida Panthers celebrated with NHL championship trophy all over the world
Nate Schmidt scored 4:41 into the second period, potting home a loose puck off a rebound to make it 3-1. After Tampa Bay unsuccessfully challenged the goal for goaltender interference, Tkachuk cashed in with a quick power play goal 14 seconds later to give Florida a three-goal lead.
Tkachuk struck again with yet another power play goal — a wide-angle shot that squeaked past Andrei Vasilevskiy — with 10:16 to go in the second period. Brayden Point finally came up with an answer for Tampa Bay with 6:56 to go in the second period, but the three-goal deficit was too big for the Lightning to dig out of.
The Panthers return to the ice for Game 2 of the series in Tampa on Thursday, April 24 at 6:30 p.m.
Here are three takeaways from Florida’s Game 1 victory over the Lightning:
Matthew Tkachuk shines in return to Panthers lineup
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Tkachuk re-introduced himself to the lineup with thunder against the rival Lightning.
After missing the last two months of the regular season with a lower-body injury he sustained at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, Tkachuk opened the 2025 postseason with a dominant two-goal performance.
He scored his first of the night with a slick backhand-forehand move on a power play after Sam Reinhart found him wide open near the front of the net. His second was a wide-angle shot through traffic on yet another power play.
Florida’s power play was missing Tkachuk down the stretch in the regular season, finishing the year with the 19th-best power play percentage (21.4) in the league. He also helped set the tone for Florida emotionally, throwing two hits in the first period to help get things started.
Panthers break through Vasilevskiy by getting bodies in front
In 2022, the Panthers only scored three goals when the Lightning swept them in their second-round series. The Panthers doubled that total in Game 1 three years later by doing something they failed to do in that series — get bodies to the front of the net.
Florida scored its first two goals off deflections and three more off shots through heavy screens in front of the net. That is the way to beat Vasilevskiy, who was dominant in the regular season to the tune of 38-20-5 record with a .921 save percentage and a 2.18 goals-against average.
That added element of physicality on the forecheck and near the front of the net was exactly how the Panthers developed into the team that won the Stanley Cup in 2024. And it was still there when they opened up the postseason a year later.
Panthers blueline on the money despite Aaron Ekblad’s absence
One of the biggest concerns surrounding the Panthers was how its blueline would fare against Tampa Bay’s potent offense without Aaron Ekblad for the first two games.
The Panthers held the speedy Lightning offense to just six combined high-danger chances in the first two periods. Florida even generated offense from its blueline, with Schmidt scoring two goals and Kulikov, who was playing up on the second pairing in Ekblad’s absence, picking up an assist off of a deflected shot.
Ekblad will miss one more game due to a 20-game suspension for performance-enhancing substance use handed down in March. But the Panthers are now in good shape after having stolen home-ice advantage ahead of his anticipated return for Game 3 in Sunrise.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida Panthers defeat Tampa Bay Lightning in opening game of Stanley Cup playoffs
Continue reading...
