Game 2 of the battle of Florida takes place on Tuesday evening at Amerant Bank Arena as the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers meet in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The puck is scheduled to drop at 7:30 PM ET. Florida came out victorious in the series opener on Sunday by a score of 3-2 thanks to goals in the third period from both Carter Verhaeghe and Matthew Tkachuk. They will be looking to take a 2-0 stranglehold in the series before hitting the road. Continue reading for the Lightning vs Panthers Game 2 picks.
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The Panthers are a heavy favorite for Game 2 at -178 odds for an implied win probability of 64.03%. The Bolts return at +158 and have a 38.76% chance of evening up this series. The total is set at a relatively low 5.5 goals.
Tampa Bay is a clear underdog in this series, despite previously beating the Panthers in their other two playoff meetings. The Lightning finished the year in fourth place in the Atlantic Division with a 45-29-8 record, much in part to NHL points leader Nikita Kucherov. The Russian had 44 goals and 100 assists in 2023-24 to lead his team into the playoffs. He was kept at bay in Game 1 though, only tallying an assist. Florida’s stout blue line managed to limit Kucherov’s production.
The Panthers struck first in the opening period before Brandon Hagel equalized. It was a quiet second period but things opened up in the third as Florida took a 3-1 lead. Steven Stamkos cut that lead in half but it was too little too late. While the Bolts were extremely physical in this one, they only managed 19 shots on target and rarely tested Sergei Bobrovsky. Kucherov and Co. need to be a lot better in Game 2.
Jon Cooper’s group will be heading back home after this one but winning on the road at least once would be absolutely huge for the ultimate outcome of the series. The Lightning did show on the weekend they can keep up with the Panthers, though. After all, we’re talking about back-to-back Stanley Cup champions a few years ago who have no shortage of experience on the big stage. Regardless of the regular season record, this isn’t a team to take lightly and Florida knows that.
Last season’s Stanley Cup champions were a force to be reckoned with in 2023-24, going 52-24-6, which led to them winning the Atlantic Division. We know how difficult that is considering the elite teams in the conference. The Panthers showed why they’re a Cup contender again in Game 1, feeding off the home atmosphere to grab the win. Sam Reinhart, Verhaeghe, and Tkachuk produced the goods, with one of their goals coming on the power play. Florida outshot Tampa 28-19. This is actually the first time they’ve ever led the Bolts in a playoff series. Oh, how the tables have turned.
Florida really had a great season, with Reinhart setting the tone. The Canadian put up 94 points, including 57 goals and 37 assists. Verhaeghe, Aleksander Barkov, Tkachuk, and Vladimir Tarasenko are all consistent contributors as well. All of them except for Tarasenko tallied a point in the series opener. The Panthers ranked 11th in scoring but first in fewest goals allowed and we saw why as they managed to shut down Kucherov, an absolute weapon.
Bobrovsky wasn’t too busy in net either, only having to make 17 saves. Barkov has now recorded a point in four straight games while Tkachuk has 11 points in eight games in April. That’s now five straight wins for the Panthers, who finished the season on a four-game unbeaten run. Obviously it’s key to keep it rolling offensively but if Tampa can limit Kucherov, they have a legitimate chance at potentially sweeping this series. There’s no question Florida is the better team but it remains to be seen if it’ll go just four games or possibly seven.
The Bolts were lackluster offensively in Game 1 and while that may not be the case again, it’s hard to bet against the Panthers when they’re firing on all cylinders at the moment. Take Florida to jump out to a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.
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