How to Watch Tampa Bay Lightning at Florida Panthers, Game 1: Stream NHL Playoffs Live, TV Channel

The Atlantic Division champion Florida Panthers open their playoff run on Sunday afternoon against the wild-card Tampa Bay Lightning

Last season, the Florida Panthers sneaked into the playoffs as the Eastern Conference’s second wild card. Then they shocked the Boston Bruins, the best single-season team in NHL history, in the first round en route to the Stanley Cup Finals. This season, Florida becomes the hunted. The champions of the Atlantic Division with 110 points open their first-round series with the wild-card Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday afternoon at Amarant Bank Arena in Sunrise, a Miami suburb. The Panthers allowed the second-fewest goals in the NHL with 200 while the Lightning were the fifth-highest-scoring club in the league with 291 goals.

How to Watch Tampa Bay Lightning at Florida Panthers, Game 1, in NHL Today:

Game Date: April 21, 2024

Game Time: 12:30 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN

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Florida defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson missed Tuesday’s regular-season finale with an upper-body injury. Sam Reinhart powered the offense with 57 goals and led the team with 94 points while Carter Verhaeghe netted 34 goals. Two-time Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky started 58 games, finishing 36-17-4 and tied for the league lead with six shutouts. He posted a 2.37 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage.

Checking line center Luke Glendening enters the series as questionable for Tampa Bay with an upper-body injury. Haydn Fleury (upper body), Jonas Johansson (lower body) and Tyler Motte (lower body) all missed time late in the season. The Lightning have Hart Trophy winner Nikita Kucherov, who finished with 144 points, including 44 goals. Brayden Point led the club with 46 tallies and captain Steven Stamkos netted 40. Andrei Vasilevskiy started 52 games in net, finishing 30-20-2 with a .900 save percentage and 2.90 GAA.

In three regular-season meetings between the Sunshine State rivals, the road team won each game. The Panthers won at Tampa Bay 3-2 on Dec. 27 and 9-2 on Feb. 17. The Lightning won in Miami 5-3 on March 16.

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