Who Will Win the Battle of Florida, Lightning or Panthers? Erik Creak Carter Verhaeghe fight in front of the Panthers' bench [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjA1ODk4NDEwNDcxOTkwNzM4/usatsi_22548716.jpg] Erik Creak Carter Verhaeghe fight in front of the Panthers' bench Today the battle of Florida will be re-ignited as the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers open their first-round series of the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs. The state-sharing rivals had very different roads to get to the post-season – the Panthers ruling the Atlantic Division and the Lightning scrapping it out late for a wild-card spot – but to say the winner of this series is clear would be a lie. While the Lightning didn't display the dominance that the Panthers did during the regular-season, they did have the aid of scoring weapon Nikita Kucherov who led the league in scoring this season, winning the Art Ross Trophy. Kucherov will surely be a threat that the Panthers will need to neutralize in some sort of fashion if they want to avoid an upset. The Panthers don't have a scoring threat like Kucherov – especially with the 109 to 88 point drop-off from Matthew Tkachuk from 2022-23 to 2023-24 – but they have an excellent all-around team with a very solid core that has allowed them to earn home-ice. Let the battle of Florida begin. Who Will Win the Battle of Florida, Lightning or Panthers? Check out the link to the full episode of The Hockey News Pre-Game Show below.
