Mar 3, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov (16) scores against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the second period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images) [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/c0270a2e-f90f-49db-9a98-ce474832efb4.jpeg] Mar 3, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov (16) scores against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the second period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images) The day is finally upon us! Tuesday night at Amalie Arena, the Florida Panthers will begin their Stanley Cup title defense against their cross-state rivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Stanley Cup Playoffs officially began on Saturday, and every series has played at least one game, except for this one. That’s fine by the Panthers, though. Florida was one of the more banged up teams toward the end of the regular season and was happy to have a couple extra days for players to rest and recuperate ahead of the postseason. Combine that with sitting around and watching the start of the playoffs while only getting to practice against your teammates and you get a very hungry, motivated Panthers squad that’s anxious to hit the ice for Game 1. "We’ve still got all that excitement and energy, especially because we've spent three days watching other teams play playoff hockey,” said Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice. “It's really exciting to watch, and you get going even watching those games. This is the payoff for having some regular season success, but for the older, more veteran teams, this is what it's all about." Much of the attention surrounding Florida lately has been regarding when star forward Matthew Tkachuk would be ready to play. Tkachuk suffered an apparent groin injury during the 4 Nations Face-Off back in February and has not played since. He’s been skating for several weeks and has joined the Panthers for their past two practices. Barring any setbacks after Florida’s morning skate, it looks like Tkachuk could be cleared for Game 1. Wouldn’t that be something? Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Game 1 in Tampa: Carter Verhaeghe – Sasha Barkov – Sam Reinhart Mackie Samoskevich – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Brad Marchand Evan Rodrigues – Nico Sturm – Jesper Boqvist Gus Forsling – Seth Jones Niko Mikkola – Dmitry Kulikov Uvis Balinskis – Nate Schmidt Scratches: A.J. Greer, Jonah Gadjovich, Tomas Nosek, Jaycob Megna LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA Matthew Tkachuk continues trending toward Game 1 return as Panthers travel to Tampa [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/matthew-tkachuk-continues-trending-toward-game-1-return-as-panthers-travel-to-tampa] Panthers taking full advantage of late start to Stanley Cup Playoffs [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/panthers-taking-full-advantage-of-late-start-to-stanley-cup-playoffs] Florida Panthers bringing exciting on-ice projection system back for Stanley Cup Playoffs [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/florida-panthers-bringing-exciting-on-ice-projection-system-back-for-stanley-cup-playoffs] Matthew Tkachuk joins Florida Panthers for full practice [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/matthew-tkachuk-joins-florida-panthers-for-full-practice] Stanley Cup Playoffs begin Saturday, Florida Panthers will have to wait a few more days [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/stanley-cup-playoffs-begin-saturday-florida-panthers-will-have-to-wait-a-few-more-days]
