TAMPA – It’s time to start another chapter of the Sunshine State Showdown.
The first game of a home-and-home before the holiday break, the Florida Panthers will battle the cross-state rival Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on Sunday at 5 p.m. ET.
With bad blood boiling over beyond the regular season as of late, the Panthers and Lightning have met in the playoffs in three of the last four seasons, with the Panthers sending the Lightning packing in the first round of last year’s postseason in five games.
Tied for first in the Atlantic Division, the Panthers sit at 21-11-2 and have won each of their last three games, including a 2-1 overtime win over the St. Louis Blues on Friday in Sunrise.
Uvis Balinskis scored the lone goal for the Panthers in regulation, with Aleksander Barkov drawing a penalty and then scoring the game-winning goal on the power play in overtime.
Making a splash on social media, Barkov's high-effort play in the extra frame proved once again that he’s one of a kind.
“I feel great,” the star captain said. “We won, so that’s great. Winning is the best.”
Getting back to their roots on defense, the Panthers forechecked well against the Blues while surrendering just 18 shots on goal at 5-on-5, with Sergei Bobrovsky stopping all of them. In addition to that staunch play at even strength, they also went 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
Over their last two games, the Panthers have surrendered just two goals.
“It’s very important to build, to keep building our game,” Bobrovsky said.
Sam Reinhart leads the Panthers in goals (20), assists (23) and points (43), while Matthew Tkachuk is second in scoring with 34 points (13 goals, 21 assists). Barkov sits third in scoring with 32 points (10 goals, 22 assists) and is also winning 62.3% of his face-offs.
Diving right into the rivalry, Tkachuk has scored six goals in seven regular-season games against the Lightning since joining the Panthers prior to the start of the 2022-23 season.
With Jonah Gadjovich dealing with an upper-body injury, the Panthers recalled Rasmus Asplund from the AHL to take his spot. In 183 career NHL games, Asplund has posted 49 points (18 goals, 31 assists).
Spencer Knight will get the nod in net for Florida.
Fourth in the Atlantic Division at 18-10-2, the Lightning have won each of their last four games while outscoring the opposition 21-8 during that stretch.
Like the Panthers, the Lightning also took care of business against the Blues in their last outing with a 3-1 win on Thursday in their own barn. Anthony Cirelli, Nick Perbix and Gage Goncalves all lit the lamp against St. Louis, while Nikita Kucherov dished out a pair of primary assists.
Earning first-star honors, Andrei Vasilevskiy turned aside 31 of 32 shots.
"I thought they really puck possessed,” Bolts head coach Jon Cooper said after the win. “They were big, they were heavy. We stayed to the inside. The big thing for us was we got the lead, and at times it can be a tough league to come back in. We kind of defended our way.”
Kucherov leads Tampa Bay in scoring with 49 points (14 goals, 35 assists) and has tallied 10 assists during the team’s four-game winning streak. Brayden point is second in scoring with 38 points (21 goals, 17 assists), while Brandon Hagel sits in third with 37 points (15 goals, 22 assists).
Replacing the departed Steven Stamkos, Jake Guentzel has scored 18 goals.
Carrying the bulk of the workload between the pipes as you’d expect, Vasilevskiy has gone 15-9-1 with a .913 save percentage and two shutouts. If he doesn’t get the start against the Panthers, it’ll be backup Jonas Johansson, who’s gone 3-1-1 with a .882 save percentage.
Last season, the Panthers went 2-1-0 against the Lightning.
THEY SAID IT
“That was nice. Waited a long time for that. It was nice that my parents were in the stands, too, and my sister. They got to see that, too. It was pretty cool.” – Uvis Balinskis on scoring his first goal of the season against the Blues
“They got too many chances, but Bob was there for us.” – Aleksander Barkov on Sergei Bobrovsky’s performance against St. Louis
FIVE CATS STATS
- Evan Rodrigues is expected to skate in his 500th NHL game.
- The Panthers lead the NHL with 967 hits.
- The Panthers have received 20 goals from defensemen.
- Florida boasts an 11-4-1 record over its last 16 road games.
- Aaron Ekblad is riding a three-game point streak.
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Forwards
Carter Verhaeghe – Aleksander Barkov – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Sam Reinhart
Evan Rodrigues – Sam Bennett – Mackie Samoskevich
A.J. Greer – Tomas Nosek – Rasmus Asplund
Defensemen
Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Dmitry Kulikov
Uvis Balinskis – Nate Schmidt
Goaltenders
Spencer Knight
Sergei Bobrovsky
RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
- Dec. 22: F Rasmus Asplund recalled from Charlotte (AHL)
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
When: Sunday, Dec. 22 at 5 p.m. ET
Where: Amalie Arena – Tampa, FL
TV & Streaming: Panthers+, WSFL-TV, WHDT, WFTX, ESPN+ (out of market)
Radio: 790 WAXY (Dade/Broward); 1230 WBZT-AM & 92.1 WZZR-FM (Palm Beach); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); Panthers App; SiriusXM App & Streaming 931
Cats on Tap: Click to View Participating Bars & Restaurants
