Graphic design: Francisco Oporta & Todd Little

The Florida Panthers (20-14-2) resume play tonight when they play host to the Tampa Bay Lightning (20-13-3) at Amerant Bank Arena in the latest edition of the Sunshine State Showdown.

Florida awoke from a 40-minute slumber and went off in the third period of Tuesday’s night tilt against the Carolina Hurricanes, scoring five times to turn a two-goal deficit into a 5-2 victory. Niko Mikkola, Luke Kunin, Anton Lundell, Sam Bennett and Seth Jones lit the lamp and Sam Reinhart dished out three assists as the Panthers climbed back into a wild card spot. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 17 of 19 shots to tie Terry Sawchuk for the eighth most wins (445) in NHL history.

After ending a three-game winless streak with a 6-4 win over Carolina on Saturday, the Lightning followed up with a 4-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Monday to close out a five-game homestand. Darren Raddysh had a goal and two assists to reach 100 career points, and Pontus Holmberg, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Anthony Cirelli also found the back of the net. The recently returned Andrei Vasilveskiy stopped 23 of 24 shots to post his 13th win.

WHEN: 7 p.m. ET

WHERE: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL

ON THE TUBE: Scripps, The Spot

ON THE DIAL: 104.3 WQAM (D/B), 106.3 ESPN (PB), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)

SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #GoBolts, #TBLvsFLA, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook

ENEMY INTEL: Raw Charge

FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 3 of 4 (1-1)

LAST MEETING: FLA 5, @TBL 2 (Recap) – 12/15/2025

NEXT MEETING: February 5, 2026

PROJECTED STARTERS: Florida: Bobrovsky (16-8-1 .889 / 2.78 3SO) Tampa Bay: Vasilevskiy (13-7-2 .915 / 2.32 1SO)

PLAYER STATS: Florida / Tampa Bay

Saturday in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances)

BOSTON (20-17-1 41P) at MONTREAL (20-12-5 45P) 7 p.m.

Los Angeles (15-12-9 39P) at OTTAWA (18-13-5 41P) 7 p.m.

BUFFALO (18-14-4 40P) at DETROIT (22-13-3 47P) 7 p.m.

TORONTO (16-15-5 37P) at Chicago (13-17-6 32P) 7 p.m.