First-round schedule out: Panthers playoff series vs. Lightning starts Sunday night
The first-round Stanley Cup playoff series between the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning will start on Sunday with a 7:30 p.m. puck drop for Game 1, the Panthers announced Thursday morning.
The full series schedule goes as follows:
Game 1: Sunday, May 16, 7:30 p.m., BB&T Center
Game 2: Tuesday, May 18, 8 p.m., BB&T Center
Game 3: Thursday, May 20, 6:30 p.m., Amalie Arena
Game 4: Saturday, May 22, 12:30 p.m., Amalie Arena
Game 5: Monday, May 24, Time TBD, BB&T Center*
Game 6: Wednesday, May 26, Time TBD, Amalie Arena*
Game 7: Friday, May 28, Time TBD, BB&T Center*
*if necessary
The Stanley Cup playoffs begin with Game 1 between the Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals on Saturday night to kick off NBC’s postseason coverage.
The delay in releasing a postseason schedule after Monday’s regular-season finale derives from multiple extensions to the regular season end date, specifically due to rescheduled games in the all-Canadian North Division. The NHL still has regular-season games scheduled through Wednesday, but the final set is between the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks, both eliminated from playoff contention.
In the 2021 season, teams stuck to playing regular-season schedules within realigned divisions. With four teams making the playoffs in each of the four divisions, teams will remain in those divisions for the first two rounds of the playoffs. In the Central, the winner of the Panthers-Lightning series will face the winner between the top-seeded Carolina Hurricanes and No. 4 Nashville Predators.
The Panthers and Lightning are meeting for the first time in the postseason after 146 all-time regular-season meetings. Winning the last two games against their in-state rival by a combined score of 9-1 on Saturday and Monday, the Panthers won the regular-season series, 5-2-1, over the defending Stanley Cup-champion Lightning.
With Monday’s 4-0 victory, Florida secured home-ice advantage in the series between the Central Division’s No. 2 and 3 seeds.
The Panthers are making their seventh playoff appearance in franchise history and first in a 16-team format since 2016 after last year losing in the qualifying round the NHL incorporated solely for 2020. The last time Florida won a playoff series was 1996, when the Panthers went all the way to the Stanley Cup Final before falling to the Colorado Avalanche.
