Schedule and 2024-25 Results
Regular Season Records: Tampa Bay 47-27-8=102pts, Florida 47-31-4=98pts
Game 1 on Tuesday, 22 April: Florida wins at Tampa Bay, 6-goals-2
Game 2 on Thursday, 24 April: Florida wins at Tampa Bay, 2-goals-nil
Game 3 on Saturday, 26 April: Tampa Bay wins at Florida, 5-goals-1
Game 4 on Monday, 28 April: Tampa Bay loses at Florida, 4-goals-2
Game 5 on Wednesday, 30 April: Florida wins at Tampa Bay, 6-goals-3

SERIES NOTES:

After Game 5: The Florida Panthers visited and defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-goals-3 to complete a 4-games-1 best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1585 victory. With the series 1585 win, the Florida Panthers improve their best-of-7 NHL playoff series record to 12-8 (with an active five-series winning streak befitting a defending NHL champion) overall and 5-5 (with an active four Preliminary-round series winning streak) in the Preliminary round. With the series 1585 loss, the Tampa Bay Lightning see their best-of-7 NHL playoff series record fall to 25-14 (with an active four-series losing streak) overall and 9-8 in the Preliminary round. The win order for the victorious Florida Panthers in series 1585 was WWLWW: Series 1585 thus becomes the 21st NHL Preliminary-round series, the 54th NHL series (all rounds), and the 137th MLB/NBA/NHL series (all rounds) to follow that win order to completion. The active four-series losing streak by the Tampa Bay Lightning began with series 1499, with Tampa Bay losing in the 2022 NHL Finals to the Colorado Avalanche.

After Game 4: The Florida Panthers hosted and defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-goals-2 to take a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1585 lead of 3-games-1. The Florida Panthers trailed the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning by one goal as late as 16:12 into the third period but won: In the history of best-of-7 NHL playoff games from 1939 through 2024, inclusive, home teams down one goal as late as 16:12 into the third period had a game record of only 68-605 (.101) - the Florida Panthers thus achieve a grade-B (.100 - .199) in-game comeback. Each team in series 1585 Game 4 scored a pair of goals eleven seconds apart from each other.

After Game 3: The Tampa Bay Lightning visited and bested the Florida Panthers 5-goals-1 to reduce the Florida Panthers best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL series 1585 lead to 2-games-1.

After Game 2: The Florida Panthers visited and shut out the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-goals-nil to take a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1585 lead of 2-games-nil.

After Game 1: The Florida Panthers visited and topped the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-goals-2 to take a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1585 lead of 1-game-nil.

Pre-series assessment: In the 2024-25 NHL regular season, the Tampa Bay Lightning finished four points ahead of the Florida Panthers. From 1939 through the 2024 NHL Finals round, when NHL teams led their best-of-7 playoff series opponents by four regular-season points, they have posted a best-of-7 playoff series record of 15-24 (.385) in those series against those opponents. MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1585 is the 39th best-of-7 NHL playoff series for the Tampa Bay Lightning, and the 20th for the Florida Panthers. In best-of-7 NHL playoff series, the Tampa Bay Lightning have an all-rounds series record of 25-13, a Preliminary-round series record of 9-7, and a Game 1 record of 16-22, while the Florida Panthers have an all-rounds series record of 11-8, a Preliminary-round series record of 4-5, and a Game 1 record of 9-10. Series 1585 is the fourth best-of-7 NHL playoff series meeting between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers. In their previous three best-of-7 NHL playoff series meetings, the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Florida Panthers in the 2021 NHL Preliminary round and swept them in the 2022 NHL Quarterfinals, while Florida defeated Tampa Bay in the 2024 NHL Preliminary round; in each case, the best-of-7 NHL series victor went on to reach the NHL Finals (with the 2021 Lightning and 2024 Panthers winning the NHL championship).