Florida Panthers (37-14-5, second in the Central Division during the regular season) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (36-17-3, third in the Central Division during the regular season)
Tampa, Florida; Saturday, 12:30 p.m. EDT
LINE: Lightning -142, Panthers +119; over/under is 6
NHL PLAYOFFS FIRST ROUND: Lightning lead series 2-1
BOTTOM LINE: The Tampa Bay Lightning host the Florida Panthers in the first round of the NHL Playoffs with a 2-1 lead in the series. The teams meet Saturday for the 12th time this season. The Panthers won the last meeting 6-5 in overtime.
The Lightning are 36-17-3 against Central Division teams. Tampa Bay is 10th in the NHL averaging 5.3 assists per game, led by Victor Hedman with 0.7.
The Panthers are 37-14-5 against the rest of their division. Florida ranks seventh in the NHL averaging 5.6 assists per game, led by Sam Bennett with 0.9.
TOP PERFORMERS: Brayden Point has 48 total points for the Lightning, 23 goals and 25 assists. Blake Coleman has four goals and three assists over the last 10 games for Tampa Bay.
Jonathan Huberdeau leads the Panthers with 41 total assists and has 61 points. Alexander Wennberg has six goals and three assists over the last 10 games for Florida.
LAST 10 GAMES: Lightning: 5-3-2, averaging 2.7 goals , 4.1 assists, 5.2 penalties and 15.3 penalty minutes while giving up 2.8 goals per game with a .905 save percentage.
Panthers: 7-3-0, averaging 4.2 goals , 7.5 assists, 5.4 penalties and 17 penalty minutes while giving up 3.2 goals per game with an .895 save percentage.
INJURIES: Lightning: Barclay Goodrow: out (upper-body).
Panthers: Sam Bennett: day to day (undisclosed), Noah Juulsen: out (undisclosed).
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by
