Florida Panthers vs Tampa Bay Lightning Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 04/30/25

It is Game 5 in the Battle of Florida in Round One of the NHL Playoffs, and it will soon be time to drop the puck. The Tampa Bay Lightning have their backs against a wall in their Round One series between them and the Florid Panthers. They are down 3-1 and this game comes with the upmost importance as they look to continue their season. However, an elite Florida team will not make things easy. Here are our Panthers vs. Lightning predictions.

In this game, there is an infinite amount of reasons for each team to be motivated, but I expect to see more from Tampa Bay in this battle. Tampa Bay will be down Brandon Hagel for this matchup, but Florida will be missing their stud defenseman Aaron Ekblad due to suspension from injuring Hagel. Ekblad’s absence could be costly, and Tampa Bay will need to jump on Florida early and often. Tampa Bay will be in front of their home crowd, and after two abysmal performances in front of them to begin the series, you can bet they will be looking to right those wrongs with a far better effort and a hopeful win. The Lightning are a team that is absolutely filled with depth, experience, and some of the best players in the NHL, along with elite coaching. We’ll take Tampa Bay to win this do or die game at home.

Panthers vs Lightning prediction: Lightning ML (-115) available at time of publishing. Playable to -130.

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