Steven Stamkos is back. Stamkos set up the go-ahead goal in his return from a right knee injury and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Florida Panthers 5-3 on Friday night in the season opener for both teams.
Despite playing within the same state for more than 20 years, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers have never faced each other in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This year provides one of the best opportunities for that to happen. If the Lightning can get by the Detroit Red Wings and the Panthers can dispatch the New York Islanders in the first round, the intra-state matchup would occur in the second round. The Lightning took their first step by…
First place slipped away from the Tampa Bay Lightning Saturday night. The Lightning, ahead by percentage points coming into the game, lost the most important game of its rivalry with the Florida Panthers Saturday night. Playing on its second consecutive night, and its first game without defenseman Anton Stralman, the Lightning lost 5-2 to the Panthers. Tampa Bay scored first but gave up four straight goals to lose. Tyler Johnson and Steven Stamkos scored for the Bolts, both on the…
The Tampa Bay Lightning have what should be a natural geographic rival in the Florida Panthers. They are both in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Shouldn’t this be a rivalry where checking opponents into the bench or five-minute fighting majors are part of the fabric of each game? Yes, but it isn’t yet. This could, and should change. The two teams have played each other 118 times since their first meeting in the 1993-94 season. None of those…