Jon Cooper said that the rivalry between his Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers can not only be considered the the best in the NHL, but in all of sports.
The Lightning and Panthers have dominated the NHL landscape this decade with the past six Stanley Cup Finals featuring the two Florida teams.
Tampa Bay won the Cup in 2020 and 2021 before losing to Colorado in 2022.
The Panthers lost to Vegas in 2023, but won it all in 2024 and 2025.
And, in a couple of those years, the two had to play each other in the playoffs.
Florida and Tampa Bay met in the postseason for the first time in 2020 with the Lightning winning. Tampa Bay swept the Panthers out of the playoffs in 2022 leading to the hiring of Paul Maurice and the trade for Matthew Tkachuk.
The Panthers are 2-0 against the Lightning in the playoffs since — beating Tampa Bay in the first round in each of the past two seasons.
The two meet for the final time of the regular season tonight in Tampa.
Although the Panthers are outside the playoff picture, if they were to make a run and get in, there is a likelihood these two would go at it in Round 1 again this postseason.
NOTES: PANTHERS at LIGHTNING
Sandis Vilmanis did not get suspended for his high hit on Boston defenseman Charlie McAvoy midway through the first period of Wednesday’s shootout win. Although Vilmanis left the game after that hit — one that drew a minor for a check to the head — Maurice said last night he expects him to play in Tampa.
The same may not be true for Brad Marchand. While he made a triumphant return to the Panthers against the Bruins, it would be a bit of a surprise to see him play in a road back-to-back after missing eight of 13 games. There’s also the upcoming Olympics to consider.
We’re not even sure Marchand made the trip to Tampa. He didn’t seem to be in any rush to get to the airport after Wednesday’s game. We’ll see.
Do not be surprised if Sam Bennett gets tonight off.
Toby Bjornfot did not play in the third Wednesday with Maurice saying he did not expect him to play tonight.
Starting Goalies: Daniil Tarasov should get the final start before the long pause. Andrei Vasilevskiy goes for the Lightning.
How to Watch/Stream: The Panthers can only be streamed tonight — and only if you have ESPN+, Disney+ or Hulu.
NHL Betting Odds: The Lightning are favorites (-185) on the money line at the local book. To win with Florida (+155), a $100 bet wins $155.
ON DECK: GAME No. 57
FLORIDA PANTHERS at TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
When: Thursday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Benchmark Arena, Tampa
National Streaming ONLY: ESPN+, Disney+, Hulu
Radio: WQAM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
Local Betting Odds — Lightning Favored: MoneyLine (-185); Puck Line -1.5 (+130); O/U 5.5 (-145/+115)
Season Series (Lightning Lead 2-1) — At Florida: Lightning 3, Panthers 1 (Nov. 15); Lightning 4, Panthers 2 (Dec. 27). At Tampa Bay: Panthers 5, Lightning 1 (Dec. 15); Thursday
Last Regular Season: Tied 2-2
Last Postseason: Florida won 4-1 (Round 1)
All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 80-55-19, 10 ties
All-Time Postgame Series — Tied 2-2: Lightning won 2021 first-round, 2022 ECS; Panthers won 2024, 2025 first-round series
Up Next for the Panthers: Olympic Break
Next Game for Florida: Feb. 26 vs. Toronto Maple Leafs, 7 p.m.
PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS (29-24-3) LINES
27 Eetu Luostarinen // 15 Anton Lundell // 13 Sam Reinhart
23 Carter Verhaeghe // 17 Evan Rodrigues // 19 Matthew Tkachuk
15 Sandis Vilmanis // 79 Cole Schwindt // 10 A.J. GreerÂ
70 Jesper Boqvist // 71 Luke Kunin // 11 Mackie Samoskevich
42 Gus Forsling // 5 Aaron Ekblad
77 Niko Mikkola // 26 Uvis Balinskis
6 Donovan Sebrango // 2 Jeff Petry
40 Daniil Tarasov
72 Sergei Bobrovsky
Scratched: Brad Marchand, Sam Bennett
Injured: Toby Bjornfot (undisclosed), Seth Jones (collarbone), Sasha Barkov (knee), Tomas Nosek (knee), Dmitry Kulikov (shoulder), Jonah Gadjovich (upper body)
PROJECTED TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (36-14-4) LINES
38 Brandon Hagel // 59 Jake Guentzel // 86 Nikita Kucherov
22 Oliver Bjorkstrand // 17 Â Dominic James // 93 Gage Goncalves
28 Zemgus Girgensons // 37 Yanni Gourde // 29 Pontus Holmberg
42 Curtis Douglas // 62 Jack Finley // 46 Scott Sabourin
90 J.J. Moser // 43 Darren Raddysh
27 Ryan McDonagh // 81 Erik Cernak
77 Victor Hedman // 67 Declan Carlile
88 Andrei Vasilevskiy
31 Jonas Johansson
Scratched: Max Crozier
Injured: Brayden Point (lower body), Emil Lilleberg (undisclosed), Charle-Edouard D’Astous (undisclosed), Anthony Cirelli (upper body), Nick Paul (undisclosed)
