Overview
- Florida faces Tampa Bay at 5 p.m. ET at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise in the opener of their four-game season series.
- Sergei Bobrovsky and Andrei Vasilevskiy are listed as the projected starting goaltenders.
- The Panthers are slated to dress the same 18 skaters who beat Washington 6-3, a game in which Brad Marchand recorded his 1,000th career point.
- The Lightning enter off a 7-3 loss to the Rangers with Brandon Hagel not expected to play and several regulars either out or limited in practice, including Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh.
- The matchup follows an Oct. 4 exhibition that featured extensive fights and unusually high penalty minutes between the in-state rivals.