Panthers embrace physical, defense-oriented play in opening win against Lightning

As Matthew Tkachuk looked at the scoresheet of the Florida Panthers’ 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning to start the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Sunday afternoon, one little thing stood out above the rest.

“Everyone got a hit,” the Panthers’ star winger said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen that.”

The physicality was expected given all the circumstances surrounding the match.

It’s the start of the playoffs, with the Panthers trying to repeat their magic from a season ago when they reached the Stanley Cup Final, and the Lightning trying to return to form after a first-round exit last season and the play-offs this year as a wildcard team.

There’s also the emotion of the matchup, with the Panthers and Lightning forming one of the NHL’s better rivalries and Florida finally trying to upend its domestic rival in the playoffs after meeting each other both times in the past met, lost.

“Everyone is trying to be physical and set the tone for the series,” forward Carter Verhaeghe said. “We came out strong and got a lot of hits. They hit us back. It was a good, physical match.”

And it played right into Florida’s identity, giving the Panthers the edge they needed in a defensive series opener to take the 1-0 lead over the Lightning. It marks the first time since the 1997 playoffs that the Panthers won their first game of the opening round of the playoffs. They had started the past seven consecutive playoffs with an 0-1 hole in the first round.

The teams combined for 109 hits — 55 for Tampa, 54 for Florida — but the Panthers maneuvered through physicality to defeat the Lightning 28-19. Florida held Tampa Bay without a shot on goal for the first 16 minutes, using an aggressive forecheck and suffocating defense in its own zone to limit the Lightning’s scoring chances.

“We all play the same way,” Florida forward Sam Reinhart said. “It’s primarily defensive-minded and that’s what gives us offense. Those are the types of games you expect to play this year, and you have to feel comfortable in those games.”

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Verhaeghe added: “It’s not frustrating. We come in here and we expect it. We play against a very good team every match. It will be an exciting match. We know they have weapons. They know we have weapons. … It’s going to be one break that wins the game.”

Verhaeghe was part of the breakaway that headed Florida’s way. He scored the go-ahead goal on the power play 58 seconds into the third period on a smooth pass in front of the net from Aleksander Barkov.

Matthew Tkachuk added an empty-netter with 2:05 left in regulation to give Florida the necessary two-goal cushion to survive Tampa Bay’s last-ditch attempt to tie the game. Steven Stamkos scored on the power play with less than 10 seconds left to pull the Lightning within a goal, but Florida held on afterward.

Reinhart and Brandon Hagel of Tampa Bay scored in the first period. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 17 of the 19 shots he faced.

“It was an even game,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “It’s a spin on the puck, either way. Let’s get comfortable with that. Both teams are going to work their asses off for an inch of ice.”

The Panthers can live with that. They’ve been waiting for this moment for weeks since they secured their spot in the playoffs. They fell short of their goal last year when their surprising run to the finals ended with a five-game loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.

The Panthers’ theme to start the playoffs is “REDemption,” which could apply to both what happened last year and their playoff history against the Lightning.

On Sunday, Florida was a reminder of how good it can be when given the chance to play its style of play as the road to redemption begins.

“It’s really hard to get all the way to the finals and then get up for the games to start the year, if I’m completely honest with you,” Tkachuk said. “It’s hard to make the playoffs so you have to find a way to get there again, but we’ve been waiting all year for this moment to get the chance to do what we haven’t done lately . You don’t even have to ask guys. You could see in their faces how excited they were. We had a great start to the season, which ultimately led to this, but I think as the season goes on you get more and more excited about what might happen in April, May and June.”