Lightning (1-0-0 2P) vs Panthers (0-1-0 0P)
- WHEN: 7:00 p.m. ET – LBC GameThread right here at 6:30ish
- WHERE: BB&T Center – Sunrise, FL
- ON THE TUBE: FOX Sports Florida, SUN Sports
- ON THE DIAL: 560 WQAM (D/B), 640 WMEN (PB), 1370 WAXE (TC), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)
- SOCIALS: #FlaPanthers, #GoBolts, #TBLvsFLA, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: Raw Charge
- SB NATION: Game Feature Hub
- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 2 of 4 (0-1-0)
- ALL-TIME vs TBL (RS): 64W-40L-10T 5TL 8SOL 390GF 344GA
- ALL-TIME at FLA (RS): 37W-12L-4T 4OTL 5SOL 199GF 158GA
- LAST MEETING: Host TBL 5, FLA 3 – (Recap) – 10/6/2017
- NEXT MEETING: October 30, 2017
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Reimer (0-0-0 .000/0.00 0SO) vs Budaj (0-0-0 .000/0.00 0SO)
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / Tampa Bay/
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Scouting Report:
The Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers open their seasons with a back-to-back home-and-home series, and as the rivalry moves to Sunrise, Fla., there was much to appreciate in the new looks on both sides in Friday’s season opener.
The Lightning pulled out a 5-3 win, and while much of the attention coming in was on the healthy return of Steven Stamkos, the buzz after the game was the line of Brayden Point, Ondrej Palat and Yanni Gourde. Palat had two goals and Point had a goal and two assists, showing speed and chemistry together on the ice.
Florida, after a strong preseason, came out on the short end, rallying to tie the game going into the third but giving up three goals in the final period. It was an encouraging debut in the first game under new coach Bob Boughner.
“It ended up being a power-play goal that broke our back, but we knew coming in that we had to try to be disciplined and not let them get on the power play,” Boughner said (More via AP)
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Saturday in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances):
- New York Rangers (0-1-0 OP) at TORONTO (1-0-0 2P) 7 p.m.
- DETROIT (1-0-0 2P) at OTTAWA (1-0-0 2P) 7 p.m.
- BUFFALO (0-0-1 1P) at New York Islanders (0-1-0 0P) 7 p.m.
- MONTREAL (1-0-0 2P) at Washington (1-0-0 2P) 7 p.m.
- Idle: BOS (2P)/
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