Lightning concede it's Panthers' turn to rule rivalry

If last season's Stanley Cup championship didn't already clinch it, the Florida Panthers' Game 5 elimination of Tampa Bay on Wednesday night had the Lightning conceding the "Battle of Florida" to their state rivals -- for the moment.

"It was our turn for a while. Now it's theirs," said coach Jon Cooper, who watched his team get eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs with a 6-3 loss to the Panthers at home. "And it's our job to make sure it's our turn again.

"There are only a few teams in the last little while that really know how to [win]. We were one of them, and now they're one of them. It's unfortunate we had to run into them. Whether they swept us or it was 4-1, that's irrelevant. They beat us."

The Lightning eliminated their archrivals 4-2 in 2021 and 4-0 in 2022, advancing to the Stanley Cup Final in both seasons. But the Panthers have flipped the script, ousting the Lightning in five games last season en route to winning their first Stanley Cup in franchise history and then beating them in five games again.

"It was the same result as last year, but it felt different this year," Tampa Bay captain Victor Hedman said. "It felt closer. But we just couldn't get it done. They're a good team. So are we. Very disappointed with the outcome of this series."

Game 5 was another example of the unbalanced current nature of the rivalry. The Lightning took a lead in the first period, only to give it up 2 minutes, 48 seconds later. Tampa Bay would tie the score twice more after Florida goals but could never take the lead again. Third-period goals by Eetu Luostarinen and Sam Reinhart put the game away.

"The games were close," Lightning forward Nick Paul said. "They found ways to win. We didn't."

Tampa Bay fell to 1-9 in its past 10 home playoff games.

The series was physical and nasty, with both teams having players serve suspensions: Tampa Bay's Brandon Hagel missed Game 3 after a hit on Aleksander Barkov, and Florida's Aaron Ekblad missed Game 5 after a two-game suspension for a hit that injured Hagel in Game 4.

While all of the Panthers' top players hit the score sheet in Game 5, the Lightning didn't get a point from star winger Nikita Kucherov or center Brayden Point. Kucherov had three assists in Tampa Bay's only win in the series; he had only one assist in their four defeats.

"Every year, it just keeps getting harder and harder," Barkov said. "They've won Cups. They've been in the finals. They know what it takes. Now we've done the same thing. We also know. So it's a really hard series. This year, even harder."

The Panthers advance to face the winner of the Toronto Maple Leafs' series against the Ottawa Senators, which the Leafs lead 3-2. Florida is trying to match the Lightning, who are the last team to make the Stanley Cup Final for three straight seasons (2020-22).

"They've built a great fan base down there," Cooper said. "I remember going and playing games there and we had more fans in the building than they did. They've done a fabulous job of building a brand and building a team, and they're being rewarded for it."

The Lightning, meanwhile, will begin the process of trying to figure out how to once again surpass their rivals.

"They have an exceptional team," Cooper said. "Not just an average team, but an exceptional team. The two teams that just played have had quite a bit of success. Unfortunately, we're not seeing it as much lately as they are. We know where we have to go."