Florida Panthers - Tampa Bay Lightning predictions and free betting tips [21/04/2024]

Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning will go head-to-head today in the first round of the playoffs.

Florida Panthers

The Florida Panthers wrapped up the regular season with an impressive 110 points while securing 52 victories, establishing themselves as the franchise's second-best record. They rounded off the season with a 52-24-6 result, surpassing the Boston Bruins in the Atlantic Division. The Panthers displayed high effectiveness, ranking 11th in offence and 2nd in defence in the league. Sam Reinhart has made an exceptional contribution, scoring 57 pucks, out of which 27 were in majority, placing him at the top of the league for this statistic. He also scored two goals in the last game of the season against Toronto Maple Leafs, a match the Panthers won with a 5:2 score.

Sergei Bobrovsky played a key role in the Panthers' success, winning 36 matches to 17 defeats, and only conceding 2.37 pucks. He is assisted by Antti Stolarz, who has a save percentage of 92.6% and a record of 15-7-2. Bobrovsky recently celebrated his 700th NHL match by beating Buffalo with 3:2, reinforcing his significant contribution to the team's successes. The Panthers demonstrated power not only offensively with an average of 3.23 goals per match, but also defensively, only allowing 2.41 goals per match and effectively blocking 82.5% of shots while having fewer players on the ice. 

Tampa Bay Lightning

The Tampa Bay Lightning finished the regular season with 98 points, achieving 45 wins and barely making it into the playoffs. In the last game of the season against Toronto Maple Leafs, they won 6:4, demonstrating impressive offensive performance that ranks 5th in the league for the number of pucks scored. Nikita Kucherov, as the leader of both the team and the entire NHL season, scored 44 pucks and made 100 assists, which placed him first in the league for successful passes. Brayden Point topped the list with 12 winning pucks in matches, while Steven Stamkos added 262 attempts at the goal to his statistics.

Tampa Bay regularly utilises power-play opportunities, realising 28.6% of these incidents, which is among the highest in the league. They also defend well while outnumbered, deflecting 83.3% of the opponent's shots. The team enters the playoffs with confidence and extensive high-level experience, including two Stanley Cup wins in recent years.

Head-to-Head

Tampa Bay Lightning leads 2-0 in playoff series against Florida Panthers, with both victories claimed over the last three seasons. In 2021, Florida lost to Tampa in the first round with a 4:2 score, whereas Tampa went on to win the Stanley Cup. In 2022, the Panthers set franchise records for wins (58) and points accrued (122), claiming the Presidents' Trophy for the best regular-League record and defeating the Washington Capitals in the first round of playoffs. However, their impressive season ended abruptly when the Lightning crushed them in four games. It's worth noting that this season, the Panthers lead 3-0 in the series against Tampa, including a dramatic 9:2 victory in Tampa on February 18, when they scored six pucks with 22 shots at Vasilevsky's goal.

Match Prediction: Florida Panthers vs Tampa Bay Lightning

I don't see Tampa as an obvious underdog and expect a competitive series. In the first match, I foresee at least 6 pucks, given how potent both teams are offensively.