Apr 22, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers defenseman Uvis Balinskis (26) and Tampa Bay Lightning center Anthony Cirelli (71) defend during the first period in game one of the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amalie Arena. (Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images) [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/fd75287c-59a3-4ffc-9d48-c417e1eeb1fc.jpeg] Apr 22, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers defenseman Uvis Balinskis (26) and Tampa Bay Lightning center Anthony Cirelli (71) defend during the first period in game one of the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amalie Arena. (Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images) The Florida Panthers made quite a statement on Tuesday night in Tampa. Opening their first round series at hostile Amalie Arena, Florida scored the first goal and never fell behind, skating to an impressive 6-2 victory in Game 1 against the Lightning. It wasn’t the kind of prototypical Panthers win that we’ve seen plenty of over the past several seasons, where they grind a team into the ice with their suffocating and speedy defensive game. This time there was quite a bit less of five on-five time than usual, which hindered the game from getting into any kind of consistent, playoff-like flow. Still, a win is a win. Let’s get to the takeaways: ODD PLAYOFF GAME Considering all the special teams play, it wasn’t easy for either team to settle into their usual game. And yet, even with all the power play time, the game only saw a total of 38 combined shots on goal. When Game 2 arrives on Thursday, don’t be surprised to see a very different game play out on the ice. “It's a hard game to assess,” said Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice. “There wasn't enough five-on-five game to get a great handle or a feel for it. I’m happy with the result, I'm going to have to watch the game harder to get a handle on the game, because I don't have a theme for it. Usually I get off the bench, not always, and I'm going to have a pretty good handle on the theme of the game – what happened, where we were good, where we need to do some work 0 but the risk profiles changes so drastically at 5-1 that you start to see things that you don't normally see. So I’m glad we won the game, I think we handled it reasonably well. I'll focus more on the first 30 minutes of that game for answers to where the game goes next. That'll be the idea.” NOT OVERLY PHYSICAL When the dust settled on Game 1, the two teams had thrown a total of 76 combined hits. It’s not a particularly high number, but it’s not low either. Between the multi-goal leads and constant special teams play, it’s not terribly surprising that the game wasn’t as physical as your typical rivalry playoff contest. “I did not find tonight to be a physical game,” said Maurice. “There are a couple of big hits going both ways, but you're not hitting when you're on the power play and or when you’re penalty killing. That kind of changed it. I didn't feel it from the bench. When you look at physicality, its physicality in how it affects the momentum of the game. I didn't feel that. There was the Verhaeghe hit that was heavy, but there wasn't a succession of shift after shift where both teams are just forechecking, nothing is happening with the puck, but everybody's getting hit, and I didn't feel that tonight.” STRONG PLAYOFF DEBUT FOR ROOKIE It didn’t take long for rookie Mackie Samoskevich to get his feet wet during his first Stanley Cup Playoff appearance. On just his second shift, Samoskevich used his speed to spark the play that led to Florida’s opening goal. Overall, the youngster played a strong game while skating on a like with Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk. He finished with an assist, a plus-1 rating and four hits over 12:35 of ice time. “I thought he didn't look like he was touching the puck and then holding it, looking to give it out,” said Maurice. “He would skate with it, he would move. What I was looking for was just legs, and I thought his legs were good tonight. 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