Tampa Bay Lightning vs Florida Panthers: Game Preview, Predictions, Odds and Betting Tips for 2024 NHL playoffs Game 1 | April 21st, 2024

The Florida Panthers (52-24-6, 26-13-2 home) are set to face off against the Tampa Bay Lightning (45-29-8, 20-18-3 away) in the first round of the NHL Playoffs on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET. The match will take place at the Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida and will be aired on ESPN, SN, TVAS, BSSUN, and BSFL.

The Panthers are seeking redemption this time around after being swept by the Lightning in the 2nd round of the 2022 playoffs. The Panthers, however, have been in good form recently, winning four of their last five regular season games and averaging over five goals per games.

Both teams are coming off wins against the Toronto Maple Leafs, with the Lightning breaking a three-game losing streak and the Panthers extending their winning streak to four games.

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Tampa Bay Lightning vs Florida Panthers: Game Preview

The Florida Panthers, with an average of 3.23 goals per game, is ranked 11th. They are the best defensive team in the league, allowing only 2.42 goals per game. Their power play success rate is 23.5%.

Sam Reinhart is leading the team with an impressive 57 goals and 37 assists, totaling 94 points. Matthew Tkachuk is not far behind with 26 goals and 62 assists, adding up to 88 points.

Aleksander Barbov has 23 goals and 57 assists, while Evan Rodrigues has made significant contributions with 27 assists. Sergei Bobrovsky, the team's goalkeeper, has a record of 36-17-4, a goals against average of 2.37, and a save percentage of .915.

Meanwhile, the Lightning are ranked 5th with an average of 3.51 goals per game and have a 28.6% success rate on power plays. On the defensive side, they concede 3.26 goals per game, placing them 22nd in the league.

Brayden Point leads the team with 46 goals and 44 assists, totaling 90 points. Nikita Kucherov follows closely with 44 goals and a remarkable 100 assists, adding up to 144 points.

Steven Stamkos has contributed 40 goals and 41 assists, while Brandon Hagel has added 26 goals and 49 assists. The team's goalkeeper, Andrei Vasilevskiy, has a 30-20-2 record, a 2.90 goals against average, and a save percentage of .900.

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Tampa Bay Lightning vs Florida Panthers: Injury report

The Lightning's team has Haydn Fleury and Tyler Motte listed as day-to-day due to upper body and lower body injuries respectively. Jonas Johansson and Mikhail Sergachev are both out with lower-body issues.

Meanwhile, Oliver Ekman-Larsson of the Florida Panthers is dealing with an upper body issue and is also listed as day-to-day.

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Tampa Bay Lightning vs Florida Panthers: Head-to-head and significant numbers

The Florida Panthers and the Lightning have faced off 167 times, with the Panthers holding a 79-59-10-19 record against the Lightning.

In terms of faceoffs, the Lightning, with a win rate of 51.8%, are ranked 9th, while the Panthers, with a win rate of 51.3%, are ranked 11th.

In penalty kills, the Lightning, with a success rate of 83.3%, are ranked 5th, compared to the Panthers who have a success rate of 82.5% and are ranked 6th.

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Tampa Bay Lightning vs Florida Panthers: Odds and prediction

This season, Florida has a track record of winning 46 out of 66 games when they were the odds favorite and 22 out of 33 games with odds less than -171. This puts their chances of winning tonight's game at 63.1%.

Conversely, the Lightning have been the underdogs on 29 occasions and have upet the odds 12 times. Tampa Bay has also played a game with odds of +143 or longer this season and won that game, indicating a 41.2% chance of them winning.

Prediction: Panthers 5 - 3 Lightning

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Tampa Bay Lightning vs Florida Panthers: Betting tips

Tip 1: Panthers to win.

Tip 2: Total goals over 5: Yes.

Tip 3: Aleksander Barkov to score anytime: Yes.

Tip 4: Sam Reinhart to score first: Yes.

Tip 5: Lightning to beat the spread: No