2022 Stanley Cup East Semifinal preview - Lightning vs. Panthers
Cameron Richardson previews the sequel to The Battle of Florida in the Stanley Cup postseason as the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers square off once again.
Will the sequel live up to last year’s original?
It’s the Battle of Florida 2.0 in the NHL Eastern Conference Semifinals as the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning meet the Florida Panthers.
The stories for the intrastate rivals couldn’t be further from each other on the spectrum as Tampa Bay seeks to cap a dynasty led by future Hall of Famers in Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman while the Panthers are trying to establish credibility among the NHL community that they are the future of the league and will be contenders for the long run.
Florida surely made noise this season as they won the President’s Trophy with 122 points, but those doubts of their postseason abilities crept in the first round in a tough-fought series against the 2018 champion Washington Capitals.
After an embarrassing Game 3 that saw the Caps dismantle Florida 6-1, questions about the Panthers arose, but those were quickly shut down by Carter Verhaege, who tallied five goals in the three-straight wins Florida earned to win the series in six games. This included the OT goal in Game 6 to clinch the series.
Verhaege is the key to the ignition for a high-paced Panther offense that averaged over four goals per game during the regular season.
His 12 points in the series is second-most among playoff skaters and he’ll need to be even more productive against the Lightning.
Tampa Bay overcame the Toronto Maple Leafs to prevent the doomed Canadian franchise from their first series win since 2004.
The usual suspects came to play for the Bolts as Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman combined for 15 points in the seven-game series. Brayden Point struggled with just four points in the series, but Ross Colton and Ondrej Palat have stepped up in the absence of Point’s usual production and Yanni Gourde’s departure to Seattle during the offseason.
2021 Conn Smythe Trophy winner Andrei Vasilevskiy will need to find his usual playoff net-minding after going under .900 in SV% with a goal against average of over 3.00.
The scoring from Tampa found its stride and Vasilevskiy held Toronto to just a single goal in a Game 7 on the road, but Florida is going to throw a lot more at the kitchen sink and have more scoring options than what the Leafs have provided over the years.
Aside from the obvious rivalry, this could be the third instance across the professional sports leagues where there is a shift in dynamic between two franchises.
When the Yankees were the dominant empire over the Boston Red Sox, the Red Sox have owned the momentum since breaking their “curse” in 2004 and winning two World Series since New York’s last one in 2009.
In terms of “Big Brother-ing”, the LA Lakers have taken a step back in production and have allowed the Clippers to be the No. 1 team in the City of Angels since the Clippers’ massive swing to bring in Chris Paul in 2012 and finally make the franchise relevant.
This series could finally see the Panthers establish themselves as a competitive franchise in the NHL.
It wasn’t long ago that hockey teams in the south were laughed upon (remember those Atlanta Thrashers?). If the 21st century has proven anything, it’s that the NHL knows no bounds. We’ve seen the Kings, Ducks, Lightning and Blues all win Stanley Cups while Dallas and Florida have emerged in recent years.
Especially with Tampa getting older and on the cusp of their window, now is the perfect time for the Panthers to take the mantle as the premier team in Florida and in the south.
If the Panthers are to do it, they have to stay composed like they did against Washington and not crumble under the pressure of potentially trailing in the series. While the Panthers are in no do-or-die year like the Colorado Avalanche, they can’t casually toe the line of being Cup contenders versus building up to one.
The Panthers have what it takes to reach the East Finals and if Sergei Bobrovsky continues playing like he did against the Capitals, Florida advances.
It’s going to be an even higher-scoring series than last year and will go the distance like a lot of the first-round series did.
Prediction - Panthers in seven