Tampa BAE Lightning: Playoffs RD 1 GM 1

The Tampa Bay Lightning are entering into 2024-2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs tonight against the Florida Panthers—a team we are all too familiar with at this point.

During the regular season, the Bolts & Cats split the season series evenly at 2-2, but that final game was a bit of a weird one as the Panthers fielded a lot of AHLers. Still it was fun to beat on them.

That will not be the case tonight. The Panthers starters are going to be back in the line up, except for Aaron Ekblad. He’s still suspended for 2 games.

While the Panthers will be fully suited up, it remains to be seen whether or not Matthew Tkachuk is really 100%. He hasn’t played since the 4 Nations Face Off and, as expected, the Panthers have been really mum on the extent of his injuries. But when you’re defending your Cup, you absolutely play.

At this point, I think most hockey fans know who the Panthers are and what they are about. I won’t deep dive too much into the stats or details because a team from Florida has been in the last 5 Cup Finals. We know them and they know us. They skate hard, throw LOTS of hits, and they’re relentless attacking the puck. They use this strategy to create havoc, make turnovers, bait teams into penalties and then their skill guys pot the puck in the net. It’s been an effective system for them.

But it can be broken. The Lightning have to do these things well to make it happen:

• Push the Panthers shots out to the perimeter - One of the big hallmarks of the Lightning’s success this year has been improved defensive play. The Panthers are going to shoot the puck A LOT. They will probably outshoot the Lightning in most games this series. That’s fine. The Lightning need to keep those shots out far to the wings. Make them take low percentage shots and defend well in front of Vasy. Which leads into the next point…
• Limit Turnovers - The Panthers forecheck is a wicked pain to defend against, but the Lightning have no other choice. If the pass isn’t there, just get it to neutral ice. Speaking of passing, keep it going North-South. Cross ice passes, especially if they’re not fast, are going to get picked off by this Panthers team. You can’t serve them up break aways and have a hope of winning. Once the Lightning are in the Florida zone and cycling, keep the passes crisp and on the tape. Slow crappy passing or drop passes to no one are going the other way. Guaranteed.
• Cash in on special teams - The Panthers are going to take penalties. They are the most penalized team in the league. And with Bennett, Tkachuk, and Marchand that trend is going to continue. The Lightning cannot buy into their bull crap. Don’t get roped into the fight and draw the matching minor. Let the Panthers do as they do and then make them pay with the extra man on the ice.

If they can do these 3 things well tonight in Game 1, then I’ll be really excited to see how Game 2 goes. I probably won’t be attending tonight, but I’ll definitely be there Thursday. One game at a time. Process over outcome.

Let’s Go Bolts!

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