Stanley Cup playoffs live updates: Florida Panthers vs Tampa Bay Lightning, Game 1
The Battle of Florida is back.
The Florida Panthers vs the Tampa Bay Lightning. It's the fourth time in the past five years the in-state rivals are facing off in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Game 1 of the best-of-7 series begins at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at Tampa's Amalie Arena. It will be broadcast nationally on ESPN and locally on Scripps Sports.
Follow along throughout the game for live updates, news, analysis and commentary.
Will Matthew Tkachuk play?
The Panthers have remained coy about star winger Matthew Tkachuk's status for Game 1 as he recovers from an apparent groin injury that has sidelined him since mid-February. That extended all the way up to the team's morning skate on Tuesday, with coach Paul Maurice saying a decision won't be made until closer to puck drop even though Tkachuk was a full participant in both of the team's practices on Saturday and Monday as well as morning skate.
It's worth noting, though, that the team did formally activated him off injured reserve Tuesday afternoon, clearing the way for him to officially return to action for Game 1.
An update will come after warmups, but for now, here's the story from morning skate.
Series schedule
▪ Game 1: Tonight
▪ Game 2: Thursday, 6:30 p.m., TBS, truTV, Max, Scripps Sports, Tampa's Amalie Arena
▪ Game 3: Saturday, April 26, 1 p.m., TBS, truTV, Max, Sunrise's Amerant Bank Arena
▪ Game 4: Monday, April 28, 7 p.m., ESPN, ESPN+, Scripps Sports, Panthers+, Sunrise's Amerant Bank Arena
▪ Game 5 (if necessary): Wednesday, April 30, time and TV TBD, Tampa's Amalie Arena
▪ Game 6 (if necessary): Friday, May 2, time and TV TBD, Sunrise's Amerant Bank Arena
▪ Game 7 (if necessary): Sunday, May 4, time and TV TBD, Tampa's Amalie Arena
Pregame reading
Need to catch up ahead of Game 1? Here are the highlights of the Miami Herald's coverage over the past week.
▪ Panthers embraced chance to rest but also 'a little antsy' to finally start playoffs
▪ After watching for two years, Mackie Samoskevich is ready to be part of a Panthers playoff run
▪ Five stats to know heading into the Panthers' playoff series against the Lightning
▪ 'He's a rat,' but Brad Marchand embraces that as his Panthers tenure enters playoffs
▪ Winning the Stanley Cup a moment Aleksander Barkov will 'never forget.' He wants to do it again
▪ Three reasons for — and three against — the Panthers' chances to repeat as Stanley Cup champions
▪ Three players who figure to be key to a long Florida Panthers playoff run
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San Francisco Chronicle
16 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Healthier Panthers are nearing full strength in the Stanley Cup Final against the Oilers
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The bumps and bruises and worse started to pile up midway through the Florida Panthers' third consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Final. Matthew Tkachuk only returned for the playoff opener after sitting out the final two months of the regular season with the injury he suffered at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February and seems to still be gutting through it. Sam Reinhart and Niko Mikkola each missed time during the Eastern Conference final, and A.J. Greer's injury he tried playing through eventually sidelined him. 'It's very hard to win a Cup with unhealthy bodies,' Greer said. The Panthers found that out the hard way two years ago when they were the skating wounded. Tkachuk had a broken sternum, Aaron Ekblad had a broken foot, two shoulder dislocations and a torn oblique muscle, Radko Gudas had a high ankle sprain and they lost to Vegas in five games in the final. While the Edmonton Oilers looked to be in better shape going into this series with the notable exception of injured forward Zach Hyman, Florida has gotten healthier. Coach Paul Maurice said Reinhart is 'back to full health,' Tkachuk, Mikkola and Greer are making a difference and the defending champions are two wins away from hoisting the Cup for a second year in a row. 'It's always good to have a full team that's healthy," fourth-liner Tomas Nosek said after practice Wednesday. "It's been good so far, and hopefully it stays that way.' The Panthers will have their ideal lineup for Game 4 on Thursday night in Sunrise after that same group waxed Edmonton 6-1 earlier this week to take a 2-1 lead in the final. Other than do-it-all defenseman Seth Jones, no one played more than 23 minutes in Game 3. That balance, after so much overtime hockey early in what looked to be an evenly matched series, combined with an extra day between games, makes them rested and ready. 'We've been, I think, great the whole playoffs," center Anton Lundell said. 'It doesn't really matter when we play. It's always fun to play, so we don't really care. But obviously now we have had a couple days off, so it's fun to get the energy back and prepare." Reinhart scoring Monday night was his first goal since being out for two games in the Eastern Conference final, ending a drought that dated to the second round against Toronto. He had six shots in Game 2 and has been steadily progressing. 'I'm not worried about him,' Maurice said. 'I think his game is getting stronger — quite a bit stronger.' So is Tkachuk's, even if it's clear the tough winger is not moving as well as he does when 100%. But he had an assist and was noticeably better in Game 3, which Maurice called Tkachuk's best of the playoffs. 'It took him a while to build out,' Maurice said. 'The speed of the Carolina series was probably a really, really good thing. Some of these injuries I'm sure they're dealing with it, you can't condition them and rehab them at the same time. They need some time. And he was out for such a very long time that I would say the last month, but certainly the last three weeks, he's back to form now.' That spells trouble for the Oilers, playing without Hyman and with top-line forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins dealing with an undisclosed injury that has him relegated him to game-time-decision uncertainty. Their longest-tenured player not being 100% is a major blow after Nugent-Hopkins, Connor McDavid and Hyman were such an effective trio getting to this point. Coach Kris Knoblauch foreshadowed a lineup change that may or may not be injury related. Either way, his team's depth is being tested. The same has been the case for the Panthers, who have used 22 skaters in the playoffs following 30 during the season. They've grown accustomed to shuffling players in and out and chugging along like some of the NHL's best teams have to do. 'With our depth this year, even when guys are injured or guys are out of the lineup, there's just so much depth on our team that guys can fill in seamlessly and it doesn't change our lineup that much,' Bennett said. "That's definitely a huge factor for us.' ___
Hamilton Spectator
an hour ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Healthier Panthers are nearing full strength in the Stanley Cup Final against the Oilers
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The bumps and bruises and worse started to pile up midway through the Florida Panthers' third consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Final. Matthew Tkachuk only returned for the playoff opener after sitting out the final two months of the regular season with the injury he suffered at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February and seems to still be gutting through it. Sam Reinhart and Niko Mikkola each missed time during the Eastern Conference final, and A.J. Greer's injury he tried playing through eventually sidelined him. 'It's very hard to win a Cup with unhealthy bodies,' Greer said. The Panthers found that out the hard way two years ago when they were the skating wounded . Tkachuk had a broken sternum , Aaron Ekblad had a broken foot, two shoulder dislocations and a torn oblique muscle, Radko Gudas had a high ankle sprain and they lost to Vegas in five games in the final. While the Edmonton Oilers looked to be in better shape going into this series with the notable exception of injured forward Zach Hyman , Florida has gotten healthier. Coach Paul Maurice said Reinhart is 'back to full health,' Tkachuk, Mikkola and Greer are making a difference and the defending champions are two wins away from hoisting the Cup for a second year in a row. 'It's always good to have a full team that's healthy,' fourth-liner Tomas Nosek said after practice Wednesday. 'It's been good so far, and hopefully it stays that way.' The Panthers will have their ideal lineup for Game 4 on Thursday night in Sunrise after that same group waxed Edmonton 6-1 earlier this week to take a 2-1 lead in the final. Other than do-it-all defenseman Seth Jones, no one played more than 23 minutes in Game 3. That balance, after so much overtime hockey early in what looked to be an evenly matched series , combined with an extra day between games, makes them rested and ready. 'We've been, I think, great the whole playoffs,' center Anton Lundell said. 'It doesn't really matter when we play. It's always fun to play, so we don't really care. But obviously now we have had a couple days off, so it's fun to get the energy back and prepare.' Reinhart scoring Monday night was his first goal since being out for two games in the Eastern Conference final, ending a drought that dated to the second round against Toronto. He had six shots in Game 2 and has been steadily progressing. 'I'm not worried about him,' Maurice said. 'I think his game is getting stronger — quite a bit stronger.' So is Tkachuk's, even if it's clear the tough winger is not moving as well as he does when 100%. But he had an assist and was noticeably better in Game 3, which Maurice called Tkachuk's best of the playoffs. 'It took him a while to build out,' Maurice said. 'The speed of the Carolina series was probably a really, really good thing. Some of these injuries I'm sure they're dealing with it, you can't condition them and rehab them at the same time. They need some time. And he was out for such a very long time that I would say the last month, but certainly the last three weeks, he's back to form now.' That spells trouble for the Oilers, playing without Hyman and with top-line forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins dealing with an undisclosed injury that has him relegated him to game-time-decision uncertainty. Their longest-tenured player not being 100% is a major blow after Nugent-Hopkins, Connor McDavid and Hyman were such an effective trio getting to this point. Coach Kris Knoblauch foreshadowed a lineup change that may or may not be injury related. Either way, his team's depth is being tested. The same has been the case for the Panthers, who have used 22 skaters in the playoffs following 30 during the season. They've grown accustomed to shuffling players in and out and chugging along like some of the NHL's best teams have to do. 'With our depth this year, even when guys are injured or guys are out of the lineup, there's just so much depth on our team that guys can fill in seamlessly and it doesn't change our lineup that much,' Bennett said. 'That's definitely a huge factor for us.' ___ AP NHL playoffs: and
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Oilers contemplating at least one lineup change for Game 4 of Stanley Cup final
FORT LAUDERDALE — Kris Knoblauch has some decisions to make. The Oilers head coach said his team will "likely" make at least one change to its lineup for Game 4 of the Stanley Cup final with Edmonton trailing the Florida Panthers 2-1 in the best-of-seven title series. Advertisement "We haven't discussed that with our players yet," Knoblauch said on a video conference call with reporters Wednesday morning. "But there are some things we've been thinking about." One potential switch for Edmonton, which is coming off an undisciplined 6-1 defeat Monday, could see defenceman Troy Stecher draw in for John Klingberg. The 31-year-old from Richmond, B.C., has played six playoff contests this spring and had good chemistry when paired with Darnell Nurse. Stecher came out of the lineup when Mattias Ekholm returned from a lower-body injury for Edmonton's victory in Game 5 of the Western Conference final that clinched a Cup rematch with Florida. "Troy's been very valuable to our team," Knoblauch said. "One thing we as a coaching staff appreciate a lot from Troy is just how dependable he is. Any time we've needed him, he's given us really good minutes." Advertisement The second-year bench boss also praised the efforts of Klingberg, who has a goal and three assists across 18 playoff games. "He's gotten us through a lot of rounds," Knoblauch said. "We wouldn't have gotten through those rounds without the contributions he's made." Knoblauch again declined to name his starting goaltender for Thursday after Stuart Skinner was pulled in the third period of Game 3. Skinner, who has an .886 save percentage in the series compared to the .928 mark of Florida opposite Sergei Bobrovsky, has allowed five goals in each of his last two starts after Edmonton's 4-3 victory in the opener. Advertisement Calvin Pickard replaced his fellow netminder with the Oilers down 2-0 to the Los Angeles Kings in the first round. He went on to win six straight starts before suffering a lower-body injury. Skinner then returned to the Oilers' crease and responded with some terrific starts in getting Edmonton past both the Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars "Calvin was playing really well … we've always felt confident in Calvin," Knoblauch said. "Always been a guy who's been able to come in and give us good, quality starts." Edmonton forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, meanwhile, remains a question mark and is listed as a game-time decision after missing practice both Sunday and Tuesday. A key contributor to the power play, penalty kill, and alongside Connor McDavid on the top line, the 32-year-old with five goals and 13 assists in these playoffs was also a game-time decision Monday. Advertisement Nugent-Hopkins had one shot on target in 15 minutes 34 seconds of action in Game 3 for the Oilers, who are already without heart-and-soul winger Zach Hyman because of a dislocated right wrist that required surgery. Florida, meanwhile, expects Edmonton will bring a lot more to the table Thursday. "Usually you get teams' best after (a blowout)," Panthers forward Brad Marchand said. "Especially with the players they have in the room, how competitive they are, they're gonna look to bounce back. When you have that kind of leadership — those top guys — that's a dangerous combination. "We have to make sure that we bring our best." Advertisement UP CLOSE Marchand played with McDavid for Canada at February's 4 Nations Face-Off tournament — an event the Oilers captain ended in overtime against the United States. "I've seen his intensity level every day, just the way that he showed up in that tournament," Marchand said. "He leads from the front and it shows in his play. A very gifted and talented player, but incredible leader as well." LONG ROAD Florida defenceman Gustav Forsling has found a home with the Panthers. His path to becoming a key contributor for the defending champs was winding. The 28-year-old was traded twice before getting claimed on waivers from the Carolina Hurricanes in January 2021. Advertisement "I tried to just work hard every day," Forsling said. "That's all you can do. But there were moments where you didn't believe that you were gonna make it. I always told myself, 'If you don't believe in yourself, no one else is.' You have to stay mentally strong, for sure, during that period. "When you get the opportunity, you've got to be ready for it." Originally drafted by the Vancouver Canucks with the 126th pick at the 2014 NHL draft, the six-foot-one, 199-pound Swede has become one of the league's top shutdown blueliners. "Everyone has a different journey," said Forsling, who signed an eight-year, US$46-million contract extension in March 2024. "Going to be ups and downs … it's all about the journey. Looking back at it, I wouldn't change a thing. It's very cool." This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2025. Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press
