Stanley Cup playoffs live updates: Florida Panthers vs Tampa Bay Lightning, Game 1
The Battle of Florida is back.
The Florida Panthers vs the Tampa Bay Lightning. It’s the fourth time in the past five years the in-state rivals are facing off in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Game 1 of the best-of-7 series begins at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at Tampa’s Amalie Arena. It will be broadcast nationally on ESPN and locally on Scripps Sports.
Follow along throughout the game for live updates, news, analysis and commentary.
Panthers win Game 1
It’s final. The Panthers open the series with a 6-2 win.
Matthew Tkachuk was the star and the headliner with two goals and three points, while Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 20 of 22 as he watched the offense in front of him build a massive lead.
Game 2 is at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
More to come on the website throughout the night and tomorrow.
Nate Schmidt scores another
Defenseman Nate Schmidt scored his second goal of the game, this time on the power play, to put Florida up 6-2 early in the third.
He’s the second Panthers defenseman to have a multi-goal game in the playoffs. Brandon Montour did it twice in the 2023 playoffs, both in the opening-round series against the Boston Bruins.
Lightning gets one back
A Brayden Point one-timer from the left circle cut the Panthers’ lead to 5-2 with 6:56 left in the second period.
That’s Tampa Bay’s first goal at even strength.
Another Panthers power play goal
The Panthers have blown this one open.
Matthew Tkachuk got his second power-play goal of the second period to put Florida up 5-1 midway through the second period.
And for those keeping track, that’s five Panthers goals on just 11 shots against Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Will the “We Want 10” chants become a thing? There’s definitely time.
Panthers extend their lead
A strong shift by Florida’s third line — Anton Lundell centering Eetu Luostarinen and Brad Marchand — led to another greasy goal to extend the Panthers’ lead.
This time, it was defenseman Nate Schmidt cleaning up a Luostarinen rebound to put Florida up 3-1 with 15:19 left in the second period.
Tampa Bay challenged for goaltender interference but the call stood.
The Panthers then scored 14 seconds into the ensuing power play, with Matthew Tkachuk scoring from up close.
It’s now 4-1 Panthers with 15:05 left in the second period.
First period thoughts
The Panthers have taken advantage of their limited opportunities so far.
Through 20 minutes, the Lightning have the edge in shot attempts (26-15) and shots on goal (10-6), BUT Florida has the slight edge in scoring chances (9-8) and things are level in high-danger chances (5-5).
Florida has had the physicality edge early, leading Tampa 19-9 in hits. Nico Sturm and Sam Bennett have a team-high three hits each and 11 Panthers skaters overall have at least one hit.
Reinhart gives Florida the lead again
The Panthers took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission after Sam Reinhart scored on a deflection from up close with 44.7 seconds left in the period.
Both of Florida’s goals so far — first from Bennett and then Reinhart — came on deflections/tips. When facing a goaltender like Andrei Vasilevskiy, that’s one of the best strategies/approaches to take.
Lightning equalize on the power play
Tampa Bay got the first power play of the game with Matthew Tkachuk called for roughing.
The Lightning capitalized and scored with four seconds left on the man advantage, with Jake Guentzel scoring on a rebound of a Nikita Kucherov shot.
It’s 1-1 with 7:39 left in the first.
A lot of movement, little action at the net
Through the first 8:13, neither Sergie Bobrovsky nor Andrei Vasilevskiy have seen too much action. Florida and Tampa Bay have combined for just five shots on goal — three for the Panthers, two for the Lightning.
One of Florida’s three shots, however, went in the net.
There have been 12 total shot attempts, seven by Florida and five by Tampa Bay.
Panthers strike first
The Florida Panthers took the lead 3:44 into the game when Sam Bennett chipped in a Mackie Samoskevich pass.
It’s 1-0 Panthers.
As a reminder: Bennett pays the adoption fee for a dog or cat at the Humane Society of Broward County for every goal he scores. That is continuing in the playoffs.
Matthew Tkachuk is in
It’s official: Matthew Tkachuk will play in Game 1 against the Lightning.
The NHL’s roster report lists him as active and the Lightning-distributed lineup sheets included him.
So ... here we go.
Puck drop is scheduled for 8:48 p.m.
Lines and pairings
The Panthers’ forward lines and defense pairings during warmups were the same as morning skate...
Forward lines
Carter Verhaeghe-Aleksander Barkov-Sam Reinhart
Mackie Samoskevich-Sam Bennett-Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen-Anton Lundell-Brad Marchand
Evan Rodrigues-Nico Sturm-Jesper Boqvist
Defense pairings
Gustav Forsling-Seth Jones
Niko Mikkola-Dmitry Kulikov
Uvis Balinskis-Nate Schmidt
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Vitek Vanecek
Warmups have begun
Sergei Bobrovsky and Andrei Vasilevskiy led their teams onto the ice to begin pregame warmups.
Matthew Tkachuk is out there with the Panthers, a good sign for his playing status tonight.
Line rushes should start shortly.
Will Matthew Tkachuk play?
The Panthers have remained coy about star winger Matthew Tkachuk’s status for Game 1 as he recovers from an apparent groin injury that has sidelined him since mid-February. That extended all the way up to the team’s morning skate on Tuesday, with coach Paul Maurice saying a decision won’t be made until closer to puck drop even though Tkachuk was a full participant in both of the team’s practices on Saturday and Monday as well as morning skate.
It’s worth noting, though, that the team did formally activated him off injured reserve Tuesday afternoon, clearing the way for him to officially return to action for Game 1.
An update will come after warmups, but for now, here’s the story from morning skate.
Series schedule
▪ Game 1: Tonight
▪ Game 2: Thursday, 6:30 p.m., TBS, truTV, Max, Scripps Sports, Tampa’s Amalie Arena
▪ Game 3: Saturday, April 26, 1 p.m., TBS, truTV, Max, Sunrise’s Amerant Bank Arena
▪ Game 4: Monday, April 28, 7 p.m., ESPN, ESPN+, Scripps Sports, Panthers+, Sunrise’s Amerant Bank Arena
▪ Game 5 (if necessary): Wednesday, April 30, time and TV TBD, Tampa’s Amalie Arena
▪ Game 6 (if necessary): Friday, May 2, time and TV TBD, Sunrise’s Amerant Bank Arena
▪ Game 7 (if necessary): Sunday, May 4, time and TV TBD, Tampa’s Amalie Arena
Pregame reading
Need to catch up ahead of Game 1? Here are the highlights of the Miami Herald’s coverage over the past week.
▪ Panthers embraced chance to rest but also ‘a little antsy’ to finally start playoffs
▪ After watching for two years, Mackie Samoskevich is ready to be part of a Panthers playoff run
▪ Five stats to know heading into the Panthers’ playoff series against the Lightning
▪ ‘He’s a rat,’ but Brad Marchand embraces that as his Panthers tenure enters playoffs
▪ Winning the Stanley Cup a moment Aleksander Barkov will ‘never forget.’ He wants to do it again
▪ Three reasons for — and three against — the Panthers’ chances to repeat as Stanley Cup champions
▪ Three players who figure to be key to a long Florida Panthers playoff run
This story was originally published April 22, 2025 at 7:30 PM.
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