There will be an added wrinkle to the Sunshine State Showdown tonight when the Florida Panthers play host to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Sunrise. Seth Jones, acquired in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night,
Florida Panthers captain Sasha Barkov scored a pair of goals and Seth Jones made an immediate impact in his debut in a 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday. Florida snapped Tampa Bay’s eight-game winning streak — while winning its fourth straight.
Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) defends the goal against Florida Panthers defenseman Seth Jones (3) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Monday, March 3, 2025,
Aleksander Barkov scored twice in the second period, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 shots, and the Florida Panthers beat their in-state rival Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 on Monday night.
In many ways, the Lightning played well enough to win Monday night against the cross-state rival Panthers. They allowed just two goals, and only one at even strength. But they wasted too many offensive opportunities early, especially on a power play that was 0-for-7 over 10 minutes, 32 seconds with the man advantage.
Thanks to the Panthers giving Tampa Bay and their top-ranked road power play a whopping seven opportunities on the man advantage, Jones was called into action to help kill off a lot of that PK time. He ended up playing over four minutes while Florida was shorthanded, helping the Cats go a perfect 7-for-7 on the penalty kill.
The Panthers placed Tkachuk on long-term injured reserve on Sunday in order to recall goaltender Chris Driedger. The move takes his $9.5 million cap hit off the books as long as he is on LTIR. He must stay there for a minimum of 10 games and 24 days. Monday will mark his fifth game missed.
Captain Aleksander Barkov scored both Panthers’ goals on Monday’s victory against the Lightning, extending the team’s win streak to four games.