Lightning vs Panthers Picks and Prediction – 4/28/2025

The Tampa Bay Lightning stay on the road Monday for game four of a first round matchup against the Florida Panthers. Tampa Bay comes into game 4 down two games to 1 after their blowout victory in game three. For the season Tampa Bay averaged 3.56 goals on 28.2 shots per game but have scored 7 total goals in this series well below their season average. Defensively Tampa Bay has been mediocre this season allowing 2.6 three goals per game but have given up an average of three goals per game in this series. Stay in the loop with our NHL Picks.

Jake Guentzel leads the Tampa offense in the postseason with four points, while Guentzel and Brayden Point lead the team having scored two goals each. Nikita Kucherov also has four points in the postseason to go along with the team leading 4 assists through three games played.

The Florida Panthers stay home Monday in full control of this series despite the loss in game three. Offensively Florida has averaged three goals per game on 31.6 shots this season but have scored just nine goals through this series after eight in the first two games. The Florida defense has been solid all season allowing 2.72 goals but gave up five in their game three loss.

Matthew Tkachuk is the offensive leader during the postseason for Florida as one of two players on the roster with four points and one of two players with three goals through three games played. Sam Bennett also has four points this season having scored two goals to go along with two assists. Aleksander Barkov leads the Florida offense  in the postseason with three assists through three games played.

Florida won the first 2 games of this series to claim home ice before faltering in game 3. Defensively Florida was phenomenal through 2 games before giving up 5 goals in game 3. Look for the Panthers to get back to their stout defense in game 4 to again stifle the Lightning. Take the Panthers to do the work Monday leading to the win for a 3-1 series lead. Final Score Prediction, Florida Panthers win 3-1.