Physicality plays in Florida Panthers’ favor in Game 1 win

As Matthew Tkachuk looked down at the scoresheet from the Florida Panthers’ 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning to begin the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Sunday afternoon, one tidbit 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 game.

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It’s the start of the playoffs, with the Panthers trying to repeat their magic of a season ago when they made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals and the Lightning trying to return to form after a first-round exit last season and making the playoffs this year as a wild-card team.

There’s the emotions of the matchup, too, with the Panthers and Lightning forming one of the NHL’s better rivalries and Florida trying to finally upend its in-state rival in the playoffs after losing both times they met up in the past.

“Everyone’s trying to be physical and set the tone for the series,” forward Carter Verhaeghe said. “We came out hot, getting a lot of hits. They were hitting us back. It was a good, physical game.”

And it played right into Florida’s identity, giving the Panthers the edge they needed in a defense-heavy series opener to take the 1-0 series lead over the Lightning. It’s 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 in a 0-1 hole in the first round.

The teams combined for 109 hits — 55 for Tampa, 54 for Florida — but the Panthers maneuvered through the physicality to outshoot the Lightning 28-19. Florida held Tampa Bay without a shot on goal for the first 16 minutes, using an aggressive forecheck and stifling 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 defensive-minded first and that’s what gives us offense. Those are the types of games that you expect to play this year, and you’ve got to be comfortable in those games.”

Added Verhaeghe: “It’s not frustrating. We kind of come in here and we expect it. Every game, we’re playing against a really good team. It’s going to be a tight-checking game. 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 break that went Florida’s way. He scored the go-ahead goal on the power play 58 seconds into the third period on a slick pass in front of the net from Aleksander Barkov.

Matthew Tkachuk added an empty-netter with 2:05 left in regulation to give Florida a needed two-goal cushion to outlast Tampa Bay’s final desperation attempt to level the game. Steven Stamkos scored on the power play with less than 10 seconds left to get the Lightning within a goal but Florida held on after that.

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

“It was an even game,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “It’s a turn of the puck one way or the other. 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 have been waiting weeks for this moment to come ever since they secured their spot back in the playoffs. They came up short of their goal last year when their surprising run to the finals ended with a five-game series loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.

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

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

“It’s very hard going all the way to the finals and then getting up for games to start the year, if I’m being completely honest with you,” Tkachuk said. “It’s hard to make the playoffs so you’ve got to find a way to get back there, but we’ve been waiting all year for this moment now to have a chance to do what we didn’t do last you. You don’t even have to ask guys. You could just see it on their faces how fired up they were. We had a great start to the season, which ultimately led to this but I just thing as the season goes along, you just get that much more excited for what’s potentially going to happen come April, May and June.”