Before the playoffs even kicked off, the buzz was all about one matchup: the Florida rivalry. “The season’s too long, and the players are bored. Playoffs, please.” Well, it’s finally here, and guess what? The hockey gods delivered. The “Battle of Florida” came back hotter than ever. The Florida Panthers, fresh off their Stanley Cup win, are defending their turf, while the Tampa Bay Lightning came in as division runners-up, ahead of their Sunshine State foes. With both teams having some serious playoff pedigree, this series has all the makings of a classic. These two have faced off before in the postseason, and while the Panthers grabbed the win last year, the Lightning still have the upper hand with a 9-6 record in head-to-head playoff games.
The rivalry has been building since 1993, but the real drama has been saved for the postseason. Last year, the Florida Panthers were the ones holding the upper hand, clinching the series in five games, including a dominant 6-1 victory to seal the deal. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay isn’t exactly a pushover—remember, they wiped the floor with the Panthers in 2021, sweeping them in the Conference semifinals. The year before that, they handled Florida with a 4-2 series win on their way to their second Stanley Cup in a row. Now, the stakes are higher than ever, and with three games already in the books, both teams have shown their fair share of playoff failures and major hiccups.
Evan Closky dropped a bomb on X with some surprising stats: “Only two teams haven’t won a home game in the playoffs: Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers.” Yeah, that’s wild. And after Game 3, you have to wonder about that trend. The Lightning stepped up big with a dominant 5-1 win over the Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday. Jake Guentzel was the star, with a goal and two assists. Tampa Bay had a balanced attack, with Brayden Point, Nick Paul, Luke Glendening, and Anthony Cirelli all lighting the lamp, while Andrei Vasilevskiy turned away 33 shots.
There are only two teams that haven’t won a home game in the playoffs:
Tampa Bay Lightning
Florida Panthers https://t.co/lCWjTmSD6R
— Evan Closky (@ECloskyWTSP) April 27, 2025
Meanwhile, Florida Panthers’ own Matthew Tkachuk scored a nice goal to open the game, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Lightning from taking charge. It was a rough start for Tampa Bay, who had already dropped the first two games at home by a lopsided 8-2 margin. But on Saturday, they flipped the script, and boy, did they make it count. The game kicked off with Tkachuk putting Florida up early in the first period, but the Lightning responded swiftly, with Point tying things up and Paul putting them ahead.
By the third period, Guentzel’s quick strike and a Glendening goal had the Lightning in control, and Cirelli sealed the deal with an empty-netter. Tampa’s not out of it yet, but they’re definitely showing signs of life. With Florida Panthers still leading the best-of-7 series 2-1, Game 4 is a huge chance for the Panthers to bounce back. The series heads to Sunrise on Monday, and it’s sure to be a thriller. And well, their games have been nothing short of battles!
Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning’s game indeed a battle?
So, here’s the tea—Tampa Bay’s Brandon Hagel got slapped with a one-game suspension for wrecking Florida Panthers’ captain Aleksander Barkov, and honestly, nobody’s shocked. With about 10 minutes left in Game 2, Hagel came flying in like a runaway freight train and absolutely decked Barkov after the puck had already cruised by. The refs weren’t having it either—they hit Hagel with a five-minute major for interference after a quick look at the replay. Barkov, poor guy, didn’t even make it back onto the ice after that brutal blow, and Coach Paul Maurice was pretty much didn’t have any update, which left Panthers fans pacing their living rooms.
Things got even messier on the socials—fans were fuming. Adam from AGBRSports came swinging on X, calling Hagel a “dirtbag” and saying he deserved to be benched for the entire series. The Battle of Florida already had all the fireworks thanks to the Panthers and Lightning being fierce rivals, but Hagel just tossed a little extra gasoline on that fire. Before that hit, the Florida Panthers were cruising—Game 1 was a blowout win, 6-2, and in Game 2, Sergei Bobrovsky was basically a brick wall, shutting down everything Tampa tried. It’s like Hagel just decided, ‘Well, if we can’t score, might as well break something.’ Spoiler alert: Bad idea.
The NHL wasn’t about to let it slide either. They stepped in and dropped the hammer on Hagel before Game 3. Meanwhile, the Panthers are feeling all kinds of fired up — Anton Lundell said they’re all ready to step up for their fallen captain, and Seth Jones called Barkov irreplaceable, which kinda says it all. Sam Bennett even hinted that Barkov’s hit just threw even more gas on the rivalry fire. With Game 4 looming, it feels like the Florida Panthers are ready to turn this into a full-on revenge tour—and honestly, who isn’t here for that chaos?
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