Panthers show why they’re the reigning Stanley Cup champions in Game 1 rout of Lightning

Sports

add

TAMPA, Fla. — In the hours leading up to the titanic playoff matchup between the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida coach Paul Maurice mentioned that the systems utilized by the two southern powers are “almost identical.”

Their styles, he acknowledged, are different.

It was will over skill on Tuesday at Amalie Arena. The Lightning entered the game on a roll and have become a favorite to claim another championship in the eyes of many. It seems the defending champs might have something to say about that. Florida has no issue with playing a skill game, but what makes the Panthers unique is their ability to physically manhandle the opponent, and they didn’t exactly meet much resistance from the Lightning in their 6-2 win in Game 1.

“This is a battle of some great teams and unbelievable goalies, some of the best goalies in the world,” Matthew Tkachuk said. “He’s (Andrei Vasilevskiy) so talented. You have to be in front of him.”

That wasn’t a problem for the Panthers.

Florida had its way with Tampa Bay in front of Vasilevskiy all night.

It started less than four minutes into the contest on a spectacular bit of hand-eye coordination from Sam Bennett.

BENNY BATTING FOR THE BUDDIES pic.twitter.com/txZj30csUo

— x – Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) April 23, 2025

Before the first period ended, Florida struck again from the net front thanks to Sam Reinhart’s deflection.

REDIRECTION REINO 🦏 pic.twitter.com/8UlqeqycD5

— x – Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) April 23, 2025

The defending champs continued to flex their muscles while standing directly in front of Tampa Bay’s Hall of Fame goaltender in the second period.

On a play that Jon Cooper would unsuccessfully challenge, Eetu Luostarinen dug a puck free from Vasilevskiy and onto the blade of Nate Schmidt, who scored the first of his two goals.

schmidty getting gritty with it 😼 pic.twitter.com/oAaIip670j

— x – Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) April 23, 2025

Cooper’s unsuccessful challenge led to a Florida power play, and it took only 14 seconds for Tkachuk to capitalize, basically burying the Lightning in Game 1.

Right on cue, Tkachuk was standing all alone in front of the net when he slid one past Vasilevskiy.

For good measure, Aleksander Barkov was wreaking havoc in front of the net, getting the attention of two members of the Lightning, when Tkachuk lit the lamp again less than five minutes later.

TKACHUK TKACHING X2 pic.twitter.com/hNeu7reb8Z

— x – Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) April 23, 2025

“He’s one of the best goalies in the world,” Barkov said. “You’re probably not going to beat him with a clean shot. You have to create stuff in front of him, get guys to the net, win battles.”

That’s precisely what Florida did.

The Panthers out-hit the Lightning by a 48-28 count. They particularly made their presence felt in the first period when they were credited with 19 hits to only nine for the Lightning.

If Jon Cooper is concerned about what the Panthers did to his team physically, he’s not letting on.

“Whether they exposed us in certain areas,” Cooper said …”In the end, those are areas of strength of ours. I’m pretty confident we can button those up. We’ll be OK.”

Interestingly enough, Maurice wasn’t very impressed with the hit numbers. In fact, the veteran coach didn’t seem to know what to make of this victory.

Florida went three for three on the power play and routed the Lightning so efficiently in the second period that, in Maurice’s mind, it wasn’t a game that could be properly gauged.

What he said about his team’s physicality might be a concern for Tampa Bay moving forward.

Things might actually be about to get nastier for the Lightning because Maurice actually didn’t think his team was all that physical.

“I didn’t find it to be that physical of a game,” Maurice said, shrugging his shoulders. “There’s been a shift on how hits are marked. We’re getting bigger numbers. I didn’t find tonight to be a physical game. Couple of big hits, going both ways.”

Oh, the coach was pleased with the final score. But he viewed this game from a curious standpoint.

“At times, it was a hard game to assess,” Maurice continued, “The power-play goals … there wasn’t enough five-on-five in this game to get a great handle or feel for it. I’m happy with the result. I don’t have a theme for it. Usually I get off the bench, I have a theme on it. I’m glad we won the game. I think we handled it reasonably well.”

Getting the win on Tampa soil in Game 1 is obviously the desired result for the defending champs, but Maurice doesn’t even know if he likes his team’s game.

“I don’t mean to be a downer here, but I’m not a huge believer in momentum,” he said. “The puck drops, that’s your opportunity to change momentum. Both teams will look at this game and find things they could do better. There isn’t an established identity to the series yet. It was an unusual game. There will be a complete reset by both teams for the next one.”

Florida enjoyed a big territorial advantage in the early going and never looked back.

Their physicality briefly got the best of them in the first period when Tkachuk went after Nikita Kucherov, who was already engaged by another player, and hit him high. Jake Guentzel responded with a power-play goal to even the game.

“It was a tale of two games for him,” Cooper said. “He takes the penalty on the one we score on. But he’s good on the power play. Really good. He knows what he’s doing down there.”

A more controlled, but still physically dominant Florida team, took control of the remainder of the evening following the Tkachuk penalty.

“It feels amazing,” Tkachuk said of the evening, noting that his Panthers’ teammates showed off their physical prowess and their depth. “It’s just one game, but the best part of our team is our depth.”

Tkachuk’s two-goal game was just what the doctor ordered for a player who hadn’t participated in a game in two months.

“What was on display were the hands,” Maurice said. “It’s just an incredible set of hands. I thought his game was OK. When you put it in the context that he hasn’t played a hockey game in two months, you and I wouldn’t have any hands. He can take that much time off and still have his hands.”

Tkachuk isn’t wrong when he speaks of Florida’s impressive depth. But its ability to push around opponents is quite a strength, also.

The Lightning looked incapable of budging Florida from in front of their own net.

“You have to find a way to get in front of the net in the playoffs,” Barkov said. “That’s our job on every single play.”

It was a job well done in Game 1.

Now, Tampa Bay must find an answer.

“We can sit here and dissect this game all we want,” Cooper said. “We lost. Whether it’s 6-2 or 1-0 in overtime, we lost.”

(Photo: Kim Klement Neitzel / Imagn Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

Share on

email

Previous

trending_flat

O que o Cruzeiro precisa para desbancar a Ferroviária na liderança do Brasileirão Feminino

Futebol Feminino

Next

trending_flat

Eight current Jets who could shape the team’s NFL Draft decisions

Sports