Nate Schmidt’s goal 4:15 into the first period was all Sergei Bobrovsky needed to backstop the Florida Panthers to a tense 2-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 2 at Amalie Arena. Bobrovsky turned aside all 19 shots faced to post his fourth career shutout and Sam Bennett iced it with late empty-netter. Aleksander Barkov collected his third helper of the series, with his offensive zone faceoff win leading to Schmidt’s blast via a pass from Sam Reinhart, but Florida’s captain was knocked out of the game midway through the third period by Brandon Hagel. Hagel was suspended for one game, while Barkov may play this afternoon. The penalty kills of both the Panthers and Lightning were very impressive. Tampa Bay went 0-for-5 on the power play while Florida went 0-for-3, failing to convert on Hagel’s major penalty.
- WHEN: 1 p.m. ET
- WHERE: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
- ON THE TUBE: Scripps, FDSNSUN, TBS
- ON THE DIAL: Radio Libre 790 (D/B), 1230 The Gambler (PB), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)
- SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #GoBolts, #TBLvsFLA, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: Raw Charge
- SERIES: Panthers lead 2-0
- LAST MEETING: FLA 2, @TBL 0 – (Recap) 4/24/2025
- NEXT MEETING: Game 4 – April 28, 2025
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Florida: Bobrovsky (2-0 .951 / 1.00 1SO) Tampa Bay: Andrei Vasilevskiy (0-2 .821 / 3.56 0SO)
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / Tampa Bay
Saturday in the Stanley Cup Playoffs
- Vegas Golden Knights at Minnesota Wild 4 p.m. (TBS) (Minnesota leads 2-1)
- Toronto Maple Leafs at Ottawa Senators 7 p.m. (TBS) (Toronto leads 3-0)
- Dallas Stars at Colorado Avalanche 9:30 p.m. (TBS) (Minnesota leads 2-1)
Friday’s games
- Canadiens 6. Capitals 3 (Washington leads series 2-1)
- Devils 3, Hurricanes 2 [2OT] (Carolina leads series 2-1)
- Oilers 7, Kings 4 (Los Angeles leads series 2-1)