Florida Panthers (52-24-6, first in the Atlantic Division) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (45-29-8, fourth in the Atlantic Division)
Tampa, Florida; Saturday, 5 p.m. EDT
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Panthers -122, Lightning +102; over/under is 6
NHL PLAYOFFS FIRST ROUND: Panthers lead series 3-0
BOTTOM LINE: The Florida Panthers visit the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the NHL Playoffs with a 3-0 lead in the series. The teams meet Thursday for the seventh time this season. The Panthers won 5-3 in the previous matchup. Matthew Tkachuk led the Panthers with two goals.
Tampa Bay is 45-29-8 overall with a 12-11-6 record against the Atlantic Division. The Lightning lead the Eastern Conference with 71 power-play goals.
Florida is 52-24-6 overall and 20-5-4 against the Atlantic Division. The Panthers are 50-8-2 when scoring three or more goals.
TOP PERFORMERS: Nikita Kucherov has 44 goals and 100 assists for the Lightning. Steven Stamkos has scored 11 goals with six assists over the past 10 games.
Sam Reinhart has 57 goals and 37 assists for the Panthers. Aleksander Barkov Jr. has two goals and eight assists over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Lightning: 3-5-2, averaging 3.5 goals, 6.3 assists, 3.5 penalties and 8.1 penalty minutes while giving up 3.4 goals per game.
Panthers: 8-1-1, averaging 3.6 goals, six assists, 5.3 penalties and 13 penalty minutes while giving up 1.9 goals per game.
INJURIES: Lightning: Haydn Fleury: day to day (upper body), Jonas Johansson: out (lower body), Mikhail Sergachev: out (lower body).
Panthers: Sam Bennett: out (upper-body), Ryan Lomberg: day to day (illness).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
