"I thought we had our best game of the season in the first game, and they were really good in the second game," Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said after this morning's skate. "I think both games were probably a little bit tilted. Today's a big test for us to see how we really stack up."
Coming off their biggest loss of the season, the Lightning looked like a team with something to prove on Saturday. Following a scoreless first period, Ondrej Palat and Mathieu Joseph lit the lamp less than two minutes apart in the second to suddenly put Florida into a tough 2-0 hole.
After that, Tyler Johnson scored twice to close out the period to give Tampa Bay a 4-0 lead heading into the second intermission. In the third period, Frank Vatrano briefly cut the deficit to 4-1 for the Panthers before Alexander Volkov and Barclay Goodrow each scored to make it 6-1.
"In the second period they came out a little harder than we did," Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said. "[The Lightning] scored four goals, and obviously that's a really good team to give a 4-0 lead. We tried to battle back in the third, got a couple good chances, but scored only one."
Expected to lead charge on offense for the Panthers tonight, Jonathan Huberdeau paces the team in scoring with 15 points (four goals, 11 assists), while Barkov ranks second with 12 (four goals, eight assists). Lighting the lamp in Game 1 against his former team on Thursday, Carter Verhaeghe leads the team in goals (7), while Patric Hornqvist ranks just behind him with six.
A key penalty killer for the Panthers, Noel Acciari unfortunately did not travel with the Panthers on their road trip and is expected to be out of action for the next 7-10 days. Playing mostly on the fourth line, he leads the team in both blocked shots (18) and shorthanded ice time (35:31).
"You lose your Swiss Army Knife," Quenneville said of Acciari.
After backing up Sergei Bobrovsky in each of the last three games, Chris Driedger will get the start in net tonight for the Panthers, according to Quenneville. Off to a hot start, the 26-year-old goaltender owns a 3-1-1 record with a 1.97 goals-against average and .937 save percentage.
Showing a lot of resolve, the Panthers have gone 3-0-0 in games following losses this season.
"We've been a great team at bouncing back from losses this year," Panthers defenseman MacKenzie Weegar said on Saturday. "I know it's early, but I think we can do it next game."
Just ahead of the Panthers and sitting in first place in the Central Division, the Lightning have won seven of their last eight games. In possession of the league's top-ranked defense (2.00 goals allowed per game), they've surrendered just one goal during five of those seven wins.
Brayden Point leads the team in scoring with 16 points, while Victor Hedman has the most assists (12) and Steven Stamkos has the most goals (7). After sitting out the Saturday's game, Stamkos is eligible to play tonight after coming off the NHL's COVID-19 protocol list on Sunday.
After starting 12 of 13 games this season, Andrei Vasilevskiy is expected to get a rare night off in net, according to TampaBayLightning.com. In his place, Curtis McElhinney will likely get the nod. In his only start thus far, the 37-year-old made 23 saves in a 4-1 win at Nashville on Feb. 8.
"If we can bring what we brought in the first game, I think we're going to have success tonight," Panthers defenseman Radko Gudas said.
The first stop on a four-game trip, the Panthers have gone 3-0-1 on the road this season.