The Battle of Florida is back on Thursday night, and even with the calendar still in preseason mode, Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers fans know this one can get spicy in a hurry.
The Lightning are hosting the Panthers in Tampa Bay’s third of four exhibition games, and this time the setup is a little different from last year’s chaos. Tampa Bay is expected to roll out almost all NHL regulars, while Florida is leaning toward a younger group of players trying to earn spots.
That matters because last preseason’s meetings between these teams got messy fast. The second game turned chippy when Panthers forward A.J.
Greer sucker punched Lightning forward Brandon Hagel, and the tone never really settled after that. That game finished with 49 penalties, eight misconducts and 186 penalty minutes.
The finale in Sunrise was even wilder. Tampa Bay had to call up six players from Syracuse just to fill out the lineup, and the teams combined for 65 penalties and 322 penalty minutes.
This year, the NHL’s new collective bargaining agreement adds another wrinkle. Players with more than 100 games of NHL experience are limited to two preseason appearances, and Florida already used a heavy dose of its top group in the first two games against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Brady Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett, Carter Verhaeghe, Gustav Forsling, Aaron Ekblad, Niko Mikkola and Seth Jones all saw action in those games.
For Scott Sabourin, the approach is simple.
“I'm just I'm just out there to play hockey and we'll see what happens,” said Scott Sabourin.
Lightning coach Jon Cooper said the point of these late preseason games is clear: give regulars another run and see who rises when things get testy.
“I expect guys to go out there and try and make the Tampa Bay Lightning,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said Wednesday. “I expect guys to go out there and try and make the Florida Panthers.
That’s what the last two are for. So yeah, it’s just how those games are.”
After Thursday night, the two teams will meet again Saturday in Sunrise for the preseason finale.
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