Panthers-Lightning series preview

 1A Florida vs Tampa Bay 1WC

And to complete the Eastern side of things we have another extremely interesting matchup in the Atlantic side and that is for the 3rd time in 4 years we will have a battle of Florida as the division winning Florida Panthers play the playoff tested Tampa Bay Lightning.

History of rivalry between teams in Playoffs:

Now this is going to be the third all time meeting between the Panthers and the Lightning and the Lightning have won both of the first series, as they won in 2021 when the divisions were realigned in the first round and they also won in 2022 when the Panthers won the President's trophy and then lost in round two to Tampa so Tampa won both times against Florida when they played in the Playoffs so I think that Tampa does have the edge there.

Season Series Record. 

Florida 2-1-0 15-9 +6

Tampa Bay 1-2-0 9-15 -6

Sam Navarro USA Today Sports

Each teams X-Factors: Vasilevskiy vs Bobrovsky

Next we go over to who I think are the two X-Factors of this series and interestingly enough I have both teams goalies as the X-Factors for this series. Now over in Tampa Bay, Vasilevskiy has been one of the best goalies in the league for quite sometime and Tampa doesn't win 2 Stanley Cups without him, but last year he was a bit shaky and in round 1 against the Leafs he wasn't himself at all and was a big reason for their 1st round exit, and then was injured to begin this ear and when he came back was shaky but found his form down the stretch, so if Tampa gets usual Vasilevskiy then they could easily win, but if he plays subpar again they will have issues, meanwhile up until game 5 of last years first round series Bobrovsky was a up and down goalie and didn't always look great and was even benched for Lyon, but he came in against Boston and not only help them beat the Bruins but he also helped them get to the Cup Final, and then he had one of his best seasons this year, so if Bobrovsky keeps his play up from last years playoffs then I think Florida should win this series but if he goes inconsistent again then Florida may have some trouble. 

Which teams are best at 3 Positions:

Offense: if you look at the team's offense I think the Panthers have the better offense, I know the Bolts have the higher level players with Kucherov, Point and Stamkos, but the Panthers have a much deeper offense and can get contributions from a lot of different places so I think the Panthers who have the deeper offense and the better offense but maybe not the more high-powered players but I do believe the Panthers have the more complete offense.

Defense: I think that on the defensive side the way it's looking right now I think the Panthers have a better defense, now if Sergachev is able to get back at some point during the playoffs I think that really makes it a lot closer but especially with the depth right now for the Panthers, I have to think that Florida does definitely have a way better defense.

Nathan Ray Seebeck USA Today Sports 

Goaltending: meanwhile goaltending wise I would probably give it to the Lightning as Vasilevskiy is still Vasilevskiy and he's a really good goaltender and has looked a little bit better this year but Bobrovsky has actually look fantastic this year too, no offense to Bobrovsky as I think this is actually a pretty close goalie match up, but I would give the edge slightly to Tampa.

Biggest on Ice Matchup: Bolts top 6 vs Bobrovsky 

Next going over to what is in my opinion the biggest matchup on the ice in this battle of Florida series and that is the Panthers started in Bobrovsky taking on Tampa potent top 6. Now ever since signing that long term $10 Million dollar AAV contract with the Panthers Bobrovsky has been a very streaky goalie and not looked good at various times, but after last years playoffs he seems to have found his game and is looking a lot better and was one of the most consistent goalies this year in the NHL, so he will need to bring his consistency and poise from last year’s playoffs and the regular season, while Tampa is not nearly as deep a team as they were 2 or 3 years ago when they won their cups and have definitely become a more top heavy team, so that top 6 is key for the Bolts as Kucherov (who had a career year), Hagel, Point and Stamkos are all going to be huge pieces in that top six and if they can continue to get production from these guys in the top six then I think they can win but if Bobrovsky stifles them then their is a very likely chance this series won’t go Tamp’s way.

Predictions: 

So if you look at this series these two teams were really good, they have a lot of really good talent and they played each other a couple times over the past couple of years in the playoffs, but I think the Panthers finally bucked the trend and they wind up winning and I think that it’s going to be the Panthers in six games, something is just telling me six I could easily see this one going the distance and I could even see this possibly going Tampa's way but in my opinion I think Florida with the way they are structured right now is the better team and will wind up beating the Tampa Lightning.