The Florida Panthers may have a 2-0 lead over their in-state NHL rivals Tampa Bay Lightning. But the best-of-seven Stanley Cup playoff series is far from over. In fact, thanks to the Panthers’ agitator-in-chief, Sam Bennett, the Sunshine State is not going to cool down anytime soon.

Florida Panthers’ Sam Bennett, during the post-match interview, was quick to address that the already developed rivalry between the two teams fuels the hate even more. He said, “Yeah, I mean, I don’t think we expected anything less. You know, two teams that play each other a lot in the playoffs. That rivalry is just growing and growing, you know. We just hate them more and more every time we play them, so it makes for good hockey.” This is the fourth meeting between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers in the five years of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. While the Lightning came out on top on the first two occasions, beating the Panthers in 6 games in 2021 and carrying out a 4-game sweep the next year, Tkachuk and co. had the last laugh in 2024 in a 5-game thriller before they went on to lift their first Stanley Cup ever.

This time around, the Panthers opened the Stanley Cup playoffs series with a dominant 6-2 victory on Tuesday in a game that also saw them outhit the Lightning 48-28. Meanwhile, Game 2, played on Thursday at Amalie Arena, was a masterclass in defensive discipline, as Florida blanked Tampa Bay 2-0, stifling the Lightning’s power plays.

What’s more? The Panthers have also seen an unlikely goal-scoring hero emerge in Nate Schmidt, who has netted the puck three times in two games till now, becoming the first defenseman to do that since Nicklas Lidstrom in 1995. Sergei Bobrovsky also stood on his head, anchoring the Game 2 shutout with 19 saves. However, the game was not without concern for Florida.

Barkov, the Panthers’ captain and emotional leader, left Game 2 with 10:09 remaining after taking a hit to the jaw from Lightning forward Brandon Hagel. Barkov did not return, leaving fans and teammates anxious about his status for Game 3 as the series moves to the Amerant Bank Arena. “Yeah, it’s tough to see. Any time your best player goes down like that, it’s obviously tough to lose him,” Bennett confessed.

Indeed, Barkov being doubtful could make the playoffs a bit tricky for Bennett and Co., and the Lightning certainly won’t be pulling any punches (maybe even literally), as they look to get back at their neighbors for 2024. Whatever happens, one thing is for sure. Sam Bennett, with his post-game comments, has given some serious stir to the pot that has been boiling for quite some time now.

The Lightning didn’t exactly welcome their Stanley Cup rivals with open arms

On September 19, 1993, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers faced off in a pre-season game at the Lakeland Civic Arena, marking the first-ever clash between Florida’s two NHL teams. This game, a snapshot of 1990s Florida hockey, saw the Lightning, in their second NHL season, edge out the expansion Panthers 4-3 in front of a crowd of 3,876 fans.

The Lightning were coming off a respectable inaugural season, finishing 1992-93 with a 23-54-7 record and 53 points—decent for an expansion team. But Phil Esposito, their general manager at the time, wasn’t exactly over the moon about the fact that there was a new team in town just a year after he had brought hockey to the Sunshine State. While he might have gotten some satisfaction in plucking goalie Darren Puppa from the Panthers, thanks to a weirdly complicated expansion draft, Esposito and his colleagues at the Lightning camp were still bitter about their new rivals. They even refused to call them ‘Florida’, choosing to call them “Miami” instead. But that was just the tip of the iceberg.

Even before a puck was dropped between the two teams for the first time, Esposito went out and told Hokey Pool magazine what his plans with the in-state rivals were. “I can’t wait to play the Panthers. We’re going to beat the hell out of them. We’re going to kick their a–,” he said. Florida GM, Bobby Clarke was also not one to take things lying down.

“First of all, Phil Esposito never kicked anybody’s a– when he played. Phil Esposito was a pussycat when he played. That’s no way to start a rivalry. That’s not funny at all. I don’t know who he thinks he is. There’s no Stanley Cup banners hanging in their building,” he quipped back.

As for the game in Lakeland, it was a penalty-filled affair, with the Lightning taking 15 of them. However, Tampa Bay dominated early, outshooting Florida 17-3 in the first period but failing to score. They converted two of their 13 power plays, with goals from Roman Hamrlik, Petr Klima, Denis Savard, and Bill McDougall securing the win. Despite a nearly three-minute five-on-three advantage, the Lightning’s offense could have been sharper.

This pre-season tilt laid the groundwork for the Panthers-Lightning rivalry, though their first official meeting came on October 9, 1993, a 2-0 Panthers win—Florida’s first in franchise history. Both teams have since evolved, but that Lakeland game remains a gritty, chaotic emblem of their early days, long before their playoff battles elevated the in-state rivalry to new heights.