The Tuesday matchup between Florida and Tampa Bay was billed as a big one when April arrived, but only one club has anything at stake in the Panthers’ last regular-season game and the Lightning’s penultimate contest and home finale.
When the Panthers lost 5-3 in their final home game against the New York Rangers on Monday, the second-place Lightning secured home-ice advantage if they play third-place Florida in the first round of the postseason.
However, Tampa Bay (46-26-8, 100 points) still has a shot at winning the Atlantic Division over Toronto (50-26-4, 104 points) — but only if the Lightning win their final two games and the Maple Leafs take regulation losses in their last two.
Tampa Bay earned a 7-4 victory Sunday over visiting Buffalo. The Lightning required a comeback after the Sabres scored twice late in the first period, but it was all about checking off milestones over the last 40 minutes.
After putting some of the finishing touches on their eighth 100-point campaign, the Lightning saw winger Nikita Kucherov claim his second consecutive Art Ross Trophy as the league’s top scorer with three points.
Entering the game tied at 116 points with Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon, Kucherov tallied in the second period to seize the title. He later scored No. 36 and dished an assist, giving him 83 helpers and 119 points.
With more interest in having a rested MacKinnon ready for the postseason, the Avalanche scratched the speedy winger for the rest of the regular season.
“It’s game 80 and … (Kucherov) showed a lot of emotion when he scored, and I think the guys, they knew what was at stake for him as well,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “It was great to see the guys kind of feed off the emotion.”
The club later celebrated defenseman Emil Lilleberg scoring for the first time to become only the sixth Norwegian play to tally in the NHL, joining a small group headed by Mats Zuccarello (217 goals). Lilleberg, 24, was appearing in his 111th career game.
Florida (47-30-4, 98 points) has nothing to play for Tuesday and will surely start backup goaltender Vitek Vanecek, giving No. 1 goalie Sergei Bobrovsky a rest before the playoffs.
The Panthers have won two of the teams’ three matchups this season. The in-state foes split back-to-back games before the Christmas break with each team winning on the road, and Florida earned a 2-1 home victory on March 3.
Florida center Sam Bennett (out four games) and defenseman Dmitry Kulikov (12) returned from injuries, but coach Paul Maurice continued his plan of resting others as the regular season comes to a close.
Starting forwards Brad Marchand, Mackie Samoskevich, Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen sat out, as did top-pairing defenseman Niko Mikkola.
The Panthers wound up blowing a 3-1 lead to the Rangers and wasted any chance of making Tuesday the marquee match it was supposed to be.
“I have some guys that have played nine games in the last 15 days, and I think you started to see that,” Maurice said.
Panthers winger Carter Verhaeghe, who scored in his third straight contest, said, “I think we’re focusing on good habits. I think it’s not doing anything we’re not going to do in a playoff game.”
Before the Sunday game, the Lightning announced that winger Oliver Bjorkstrand is week-to-week with a lower-body injury.
In 18 games with his new club, Bjorkstrand has hit the net five times, added four assists and skated at plus-3.
Fourth-line center Luke Glendening, a faceoff and penalty-kill standout, is set to miss his third straight game because of an upper-body injury. He may not be ready for the beginning of the playoffs.
