Tampa Bay Lightning vs Florida Panthers Prediction, Preview and Odds - 04/26/2025

Game Time: 1:00 pm ET, Saturday, April 26, 2025

Venue:  Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise, FL

Where to Watch:  TBS, MAX, truTV

DraftKings:  Moneyline:  Lightning +114, Panthers -135; Over/Under:  5.5 goals

Bet365:  Moneyline:  Lightning +115, Panthers -135; Over/Under:  5.5 goals

BetMGM:  Moneyline:  Lightning +120, Panthers -140; Over/Under:  5.5 goals

Tampa Bay Lightning:  47-27-8 (2nd place, Atlantic Division)

Florida Panthers:  47-31-4 (3rd place, Atlantic Division)

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Tampa Bay Lightning:  3-4-3 last 10

Florida Panthers:  5-5-0 last 10

The Lightning are entering the playoffs with 102 points, a 47-27-8 record overall, and they were 18-19-4 in their road games this season where they will be in this game. They are entering this game off a loss against the Florida Panthers in their last game, losing that one at home 2-0. No one on the team scored a goal or recorded an assist for them in that one. Erik Černák and Ryan McDonagh each led the team in shots on net in that game with 4. Andrei Vasilevskiy was the starting goalie in that game and he allowed 1 goal on 22 shots with 21 saves and a .955 sv percentage. Their offense has scored 294 goals this season averaging 3.6 goals per game and their defense has allowed their opponents to score 219 goals against them allowing 2.7 goals per game.

The Panthers are entering the playoffs with 98 points, a 47-31-4 record overall, and they were 27-12-2 in their home games this season where they will be in this game. They are entering this game off a win against the Tampa Bay Lightning in their last game, winning that one on the road 2-0. Sam Bennett and Nate Schmidt each scored 1 goal for them in that one. Aleksander Barkov, Seth Jones, and Sam Reinhart each led the team in assists with 1 while Sam Bennett led the team in shots on net in that game with 4. Sergei Bobrovsky was the starting goalie in that game and he recorded the shutout as he allowed 0 goals on 19 shots with 19 saves and a 1.000 save percentage. Their offense has scored 252 goals this season averaging 3.1 goals per game and their defense has allowed their opponents to score 223 goals against them allowing 2.7 goals per game.

The current betting odds have the Panthers listed as a slight favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. This is game 3 of a 7 game series between the 2nd seeded Lightning and the 3rd seeded Panthers from the Atlantic Division for the 1st round of the NHL playoffs. The Panthers are leading this series 2-0 after winning game 2 on the road. The Panthers took a 2-0 series lead with a 2-0 win over the Lightning and they have already asserted their dominance as the defending Stanley Cup champions in the first 2 games of this series. They won both road games and are now going back home with a chance to sweep the Lightning and never let this series get back to Tampa. The Panthers didn't look great to end the regular season, but now they are healthy and have reminded everyone why they are the champs. The Lightning were terrible in the 1st game with a 6-2 loss and they looked a lot better in game 2 even though they lost 2-0, but their offense has been struggling to find the net and that is going to be a big issue in this series. The Lightning have also been a lot better on home ice this year and already blew their 2 games there. They have an 18-19-4 road record while the Panthers are 27-12-2 on home ice. The pressure is on the Lightning to win on the road now, but they haven't shown any signs of competing in this series in the first 2 games, and the Panthers also gave them a lot of trouble in the regular season too. The best way to place a bet here is on the Panthers to win this game.  

Lightning Panthers Prediction:  Our NHL Pick for Saturday, April 26, 2025 (1:00 pm ET start time) is Panthers 3 Lightning 1.

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Tampa Bay Lightning: 15-30 (-10.8 units) on the moneyline as a road underdog of +100 to +200. 22-27 (-9.7 units) on the moneyline revenging a loss vs opponent as a home favorite. 58-64 (-14.6 units) on the moneyline when playing against a team with a winning record. 24-18 OVER revenging a loss vs opponent as a home favorite.

Florida Panthers: 10-4 (+8.9 units) on the moneyline in the first round of the playoffs. 29-14 (+10.2 units) on the moneyline after playing 3 consecutive road games. 112-82 (+13.3 units) on the moneyline against good passing teams - averaging 5 or more assists per game. 9-4 OVER in the first round of the playoffs.

Tampa Bay Lightning:  O. Bjorkstrand (RW) Out - Lower Body. 

Florida Panthers:  A. Barkov (C) Day To Day - Undisclosed.

"The refs make the call. Was I a little surprised that it was a five? But it was. They made that call, so we had to dig in and I think the boys did a great job of digging in there. Five minutes in a 1-0 game with 8-9 minutes to play. That's a tough situation to be in." - Jon Cooper after his team’s loss against the Panthers in game 2 of this series on Thursday.

"Over the course of his career, the amount of time he puts into being great, you can't be surprised. It's actually just a wonderful life lesson for the people around who get to watch. If you want to get better, hone your craft. Put as much time in it, find the joy in it and then you have games like this, where he's just so good and so right." - Paul Maurice on Sergei Bobrovsky after his team’s win against the Lightning in game 2 of this series on Thursday.

LW Gage Goncalves

C Brayden Point

RW Nikita Kucherov

LD Victor Hedman

RD Janis Jérôme Moser

G Andrei Vasilevskiy

LW Carter Verhaeghe

C Aleksander Barkov

RW Sam Reinhart

LD Gustav Forsling

RD Aaron Ekblad

G Sergei Bobrovsky

Points: N. Kucherov (121)

Goals: B. Point (42)

Assists: N. Kucherov (84)

GAA: A. Vasilevskiy (2.18)

Points: S. Reinhart (81)

Goals: S. Reinhart (39)

Assists: A. Barkov (51)

GAA: S. Bobrovsky (2.44)

Coaches:

Tampa Bay Lightning: Jon Cooper (13th season)

Florida Panthers: Paul Maurice (3rd season)