Florida Panthers (52-24-6, first in the Atlantic Division) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (45-29-8, fourth in the Atlantic Division)
Tampa, Florida; Thursday, 7 p.m. EDT
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Lightning +174, Panthers -129; over/under is 6
NHL PLAYOFFS FIRST ROUND: Panthers lead series 2-0
BOTTOM LINE: The Florida Panthers visit the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the NHL Playoffs with a 2-0 lead in the series. The teams meet Tuesday for the sixth time this season. The Panthers won 3-2 in overtime in the last meeting.
Tampa Bay is 12-10-6 against the Atlantic Division and 45-29-8 overall. The Lightning are 43-6-4 when scoring three or more goals.
Florida is 52-24-6 overall with a 19-5-4 record in Atlantic Division games. The Panthers have an 18-7-4 record in one-goal games.
TOP PERFORMERS: Nikita Kucherov has scored 44 goals with 100 assists for the Lightning. Steven Stamkos has 11 goals and six assists over the last 10 games.
Matthew Tkachuk has 26 goals and 62 assists for the Panthers. Aleksander Barkov Jr. has two goals and nine assists over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Lightning: 4-4-2, averaging 3.6 goals, 6.6 assists, four penalties and 9.4 penalty minutes while giving up 3.1 goals per game.
Panthers: 7-2-1, averaging 3.5 goals, 5.7 assists, 5.1 penalties and 12.6 penalty minutes while giving up 2.1 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: day to day (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.
