TAMPA, Fla. – Following a three-year run in which they went to the Stanley Cup final and won it all twice, the Lightning have had a trio of early exits. A 6-3 loss to the Panthers at Amalie Arena on Wednesday night made it three straight first-round defeats.
A very encouraging sign early in Game 5 was the Lightning not only scoring first for just the third time in 10 playoff games the past two years against the Panthers, but connected on the power play at 2:33. That snapped a 0-for-14 drought with the man advantage. Alas, the Bolts would find themselves in catch-up mode for much of the evening.
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“We had the lead and didn’t extend it,” said Victor Hedman. “They found ways to win, and we didn’t.”
The Panthers will attempt to do what the Lightning did from 2020 to 2022, which is make it three straight Cup final appearances with a pair of titles. They will play the winner of the Toronto/Ottawa series in the second round.
“There are only a few teams in the last little while that know how to do it,” said coach Jon Cooper. “We were one of them, and now they are one of them.”
Here are some of the numbers coming out of the series loss.
0: Goals by Nikita Kucherov in the Bolts’ last 15 playoff games.
1: Lightning wins in eight playoff games at Amalie Arena the past three years. The victory was Game 4 against the Panthers last year. They were 0-3 versus Toronto in 2023, each in overtime, and 1-5 against Florida in 2024 and 2025 combined.
2: Shots on goal by Nikita Kucherov in Game 5
3: Turnovers by Nikita Kucherov in Game 5
4: The Lightning’s playoff win total the past three years.
6: Average third-period shots on goal in the series by the Lightning, who had 30 in five games…..Also, series points by Jake Guentzel to lead the team.
8: Third-period goals by the Panthers in the series, who outscored the Lightning 8-3.
17: Power play shots on goal in the series for the Lightning.
18: Power play opportunities in the series for the Lightning, who scored twice.
39:53: Power play time in the series for the Bolts.
11-2: The record of the team that scored first in the last 13 playoff matches between Tampa Bay and Florida dating to 2022. It was 10-0 before the Bolts came back to win Game 3 in Sunrise.
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