NHL Game of the Week: Lightning vs. Panthers
On Friday, October 21, the NHL will have the first Battle of Florida this season between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers.
This has become a very bitter cross state rivalry in recent years as both teams have made improvements to their rosters and have been able to compete to a higher standard.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are entering this matchup with a 1-3-0 record after their most recent game being a 3-2 loss against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Lightning struggled after blowing a 2-0 lead and they were beaten in all aspects of the game in the third period.
Even though the season is still very young, the Lightning are having an extremely slow start and not looking like the powerhouse team they are known to be after making the Stanley Cup Final the past three seasons.
To win the next game against their cross state rivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning are going to have to look to players like Nikita Kucherov and their captain Steven Stamkos to be a veteran presence and create scoring opportunities.
On defense, Tampa Bay has not been as successful as they should be, especially with all star defensemen Victor Hedman having the most ice time for them. The Lightning defensmen need to do a much better job protecting goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy to be able to hold on to winning leads.
Completely on the opposite end of the spectrum are the Florida Panthers.
The Panthers have found early success so far in the new 2022-23 NHL season as they come into this game against Tampa with a record of 3-1-0. Their most recent game and victory came as a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.
A big part of Florida’s winning habits has been forward Matthew Tkachuk who was sent to the Panthers in an offseason trade from the Calgary Flames. Tkachuck is already the Panthers leader in points with six in just four games.
Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky has also had an extremely productive start to his season with a .920 save percentage and 2.75 goals-against average after his three starts.
Last season these two met in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs where the Lightning swept the Panthers in four games. Their most recent meeting was in the preseason leading up to this season where the Lightning were victorious over the Panthers 5-2.
The Panthers are going to play this game with a lot of animosity and a “chip on their shoulder” as this team is hungry for revenge. Especially now with new players and while the Lightning are struggling, the Panthers need to seize this opportunity to beat their rivals at home.
Look for this game to have a lot of fights, hard body checks, and a playoff atmosphere with the fans filling up FLA Live Arena.
Christopher Machado is a third-year studying broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email cvm6238@psu.edu.
