"It's always fun playing an in-state rival, a team that's been at the top the last few years," said Keith Yandle, who leads Florida's defenseman in assists (23) and points (26). "It's always a tough challenge. For us, we've got to come out and have one of our best games of the year."
Opening up the 2019-20 campaign with a home-and-home series, the Lightning won 5-2 in the season opener on Oct. 5. After that, the series shifted to Sunrise, where the Panthers won 4-3.
Entering tonight's rematch, Tampa Bay ranks second in the league in goals per game (3.64), while Florida sits fourth (3.52). Additionally, both clubs also rank in the top-5 on the power play.
Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov lead the Panthers in scoring with 36 points each, while Brett Connolly has the most goals (14), including scoring eight times in his last 10 games.
For the Lightning, reigning Hart Trophy winner Nikita Kucherov leads the team with 31 points and is locked in a three-way tie with Steven Stamkos and Brayden Point for the most goals (10).
"A big thing for us is to stay out of the [penalty] box," Yandle said. "Obviously when you have a power play like theirs clicking the way they are, it's one of those things where staying out of the box is the best weapon. We've just go to hold onto pucks and find ways to get points."
Owning a 3-1-0 record through the first four games of their current franchise-record, nine-game homestand, the Panthers enter tonight's divisional matchup on the heels of back-to-back wins over the Columbus Blue Jackets and San Jose Sharks on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Starting both halves of the back-to-back, Sergei Bobrovsky was outstanding between the pipes for Florida, stopping a combined 63 of 65 shots to earn two wins in less than 24 hours.
"He was huge," said Panther winger Evgenii Dadonov, who ranks tied for second on the team in goals (11) and fourth in points (23). "Especially playing back-to-back, he had two solid games."
Expected to return to the crease tonight, Bobrovsky has picked up the win in five of his last seven starts. Sitting a 11-6-4 on the season, he's posted a stellar 8-2-2 mark on home ice.
In front of net, the Panthers have also been making strides on defense. Allowing one-or-fewer goals in three of their last four games, they've given up an average of just 6.25 shot attempts per game from high-danger areas at 5-on-5 in that stretch, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
"[Bobrovsky] really gave us some confidence," Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said. "I thought he was solid right at the start of both games. I thought we played well in front of him as well…. I thought we had some possession time and made some good decisions with the puck. We're cutting down on the quality and quantity of the chances against. I'm really happy with Bob."
Improving to 15-9-5 during their current stretch, Florida currently resides in second place in the Atlantic Division and is four points ahead of sixth-place Tampa Bay with one more game played.
After dropping five of their last seven games, the Lightning have fallen to 14-11-3 and are well behind the Presidents' Trophy pace that propelled them to the top of the Eastern Conference last season. On Monday night, they suffered a 5-1 loss to the New York Islanders at home.
"It's frustrating," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper told reporters after the game. "You're going to wake up tomorrow and see 5-1 and clearly it wasn't a 5-1 game. But it was a loss. We left plays out there. There's no question we left some plays out there."
With backup Curtis McElhinney getting the nod last night, the Lightning will likely turn to starter Andrei Vasilevskiy against the Panthers. Last season's Vezina Trophy winner, the 25-year-old netminder owns an 11-8-1 record with a 2.91 goals-against average and .907 save percentage.
Florida has gone 9-4-2 at home this season, while Tampa Bay is 7-5-2 on the road.
"They're a team that we know is going to get on a roll this year," Quenneville said of the Lightning, who finished with a franchise-record 128 points last season. "Right now, we're fighting for space in our playoff race. This is an important two points for us. They're not going anywhere. They're in the mix."
