The Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning will get plenty of rest before they open their first-round playoff series, with Game 1 coming Tuesday at 8:30.

The Lightning hold home ice advantage in this round and will play Games 1 and 2 at home.

With so many days off between games, coach Paul Maurice scratched Thursday’s practice with the team coming in for their official 2024-25 photo and to do off-ice workouts.

Only A.J. Greer and Sergei Bobrovsky worked on the ice.

The Panthers and Lightning have played each other in four of the past five postseasons — with all but the 2022 series coming in the opening round.

Tampa Bay won the first two postseason series between the two teams with Florida winning in 5 last year en route to the team’s first Stanley Cup championship.

Although the games will be nationally broadcast either through ABC/ESPN and TNT/TBS, they will also be shown on local TV.

The NHL announced the game times and broadcast schedule for the first three games, with start times and more for the remainder of the series to come later.

PANTHERS vs. LIGHTNING

Game 1, Tuesday: Panthers at Lightning, 8:30 (Scripps, ESPN)
Game 2, Thursday: Panthers at Lightning, 6:30 (Scripps, TBS)
Game 3, Saturday: Lightning at Panthers, 1 (Scripps, TBS)
Game 4, Monday, April 28: Lightning at Panthers, TBA
Game 5, Wednesday, April 30*: Panthers at Lightning, TBA
Game 6, Friday, May 2*: Lightning at Panthers, TBA
Game 7, Sunday, May 4*: Panthers at Lightning, TBA

2025 NHL STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS
EASTERN CONFERENCE 1ST ROUND: GAME 1
FLORIDA PANTHERS at TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING 

When: Tuesday, 8:30 p.m.
Where: Amalie Arena, Tampa
Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
National TV: ESPN
Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+
Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
Series Schedule: See above
Season Series (Tied 2-2) — At Tampa Bay: Panthers 4, Lightning 2 (Dec. 22); Lightning 5, Panthers 1 (Ap. 15). At Florida: Lightning 4, Panthers 0 (Dec. 23); Panthers 2, Lightning 1 (March 3).
All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 79-53-19, 10 ties
All-Time Postgame Series: Tampa Bay Leads 2-1 (won 2021 first-round, 2022 ECS); Florida d. Lightning 4-1 in 2024 first-round.

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