TAMPA – The Florida Panthers begin their Stanley Cup title defense Tuesday night in familiar territory — on the road against a familiar foe.
The defending champions open their Eastern Conference first-round series at Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay, marking the fourth time in five years the Panthers and Lightning have met in the postseason.
The rivalry has intensified with each passing year, but it’s Florida that appears to have seized the upper hand.
After reaching the Stanley Cup Final and defeating Tampa Bay en route to their first-ever championship last season, the Panthers are now aiming to match the Lightning’s stretch of three consecutive Eastern Conference titles from 2020 to 2022.
A team from Florida has appeared in the Stanley Cup Final each of the last five seasons, and the state’s grip on the NHL’s Eastern Conference hasn’t let up.
Now, with Game 1 set for an 8:30 p.m. puck drop, the Panthers hope to recapture the momentum that carried them through last spring.
Monday’s final practice in Fort Lauderdale served as a tune-up before the team hit the road. But after ending the regular season with back-to-back losses, some critics have questioned whether Florida can quickly find its playoff form.
That’s an idea head coach Paul Maurice isn’t buying into.
“We completely stay out of the idea of flipping a switch,” Maurice said. “I think it may have looked like that, and I’ll go back to our schedule. We didn’t have a lot of drive there in the last — not so much in the last week, last couple of weeks. We had sometimes eight players out of our lineup, so we didn’t look as forceful.”
Despite the late-season stumbles, Florida enters the series confident in its veteran core and playoff experience. And with a state rivalry on the line once again, the stakes are as high as ever.
Hockey fans can catch all the action on WPLG Local 10.
