Schedule and 2020-21 Results
Regular Season Records: Florida 37-14-5=79pts, Tampa Bay 36-17-3=75pts
Game 1 on Sunday, 16 May: Tampa Bay wins at Florida, 5-goals-4
Game 2 on Tuesday, 18 May: Tampa Bay wins at Florida, 3-goals-1
Game 3 on Thursday, 20 May: Florida wins at Tampa Bay, 6-goals-5(OT)
Game 4 on Saturday, 22 May: Florida loses at Tampa Bay, 6-goals-2
Game 5 on Monday, 24 May: Tampa Bay loses at Florida, 4-goals-1
Game 6 on Wednesday, 26 May: Florida loses at Tampa Bay, 4-goals-nil

SERIES NOTES:

After Game 6: The Tampa Bay Lightning hosted and shut out the Florida Panthers 4-goals-nil to complete a 4-games-2 best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1455 victory. With the series 1455 win, the Tampa Bay Lightning improve their best-of-7 NHL playoff series record to 19-10 (with an active five-series winning streak befitting a defending NHL champion) overall and 8-5 in the Preliminary round. With the series 1455 loss, the Florida Panthers see their best-of-7 NHL playoff series record fall to 3-6 (with an active six-series losing streak) overall and 1-5 (with an active five-series losing streak in the Preliminary round) in the Preliminary round. The win order for the victorious Tampa Bay Lightning in series 1455 was WWLWLW: Series 1455 thus becomes the tenth NHL Preliminary-round series, the 23rd NHL series (all rounds), and the 49th MLB/NBA/NHL series (all rounds) to follow that win order to completion. The last best-of-7 NHL playoff series victory for the Florida Panthers occurred in series 710, in the 1996 NHL Semifinals over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

After Game 5: The Florida Panthers hosted and defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-goals-1 to drop the Tampa Bay Lightning best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL series 1455 lead to 3-games-2. When leading a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 3-games-2, the Tampa Bay Lightning have a series record of 6-2 and a Game 6 record of 4-4. When trailing a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 3-games-2, the Florida Panthers have a series record of 1-1 and a Game 6 record of 1-1.

After Game 4: The Tampa Bay Lightning hosted and defeated the Florida Panthers 6-goals-2 to take a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1455 lead of 3-games-1. When leading a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 3-games-1, the Tampa Bay Lightning have a series record of 10-0 and a Game 5 record of 7-3. When trailing a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 3-games-1, the Florida Panthers have a series record of 0-1 and a Game 5 record of 0-1. The Tampa Bay Lightning extend their Game 4 winning streak to nine upon leading a best-of-7 NHL playoff series 2-games-1 with their series 1455 Game 4 victory over Florida.

After Game 3: The Florida Panthers visited and bested the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-goals-5(OT) to reduce the Tampa Bay Lightning best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL series 1455 lead to 2-games-1. When leading a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 2-games-1, the Tampa Bay Lightning have a series record of 11-3 (with an active eight-series winning streak) and a Game 4 record of 9-5 (with an active eight-Game 4 winning streak). When trailing a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 2-games-1, the Florida Panthers have a series record of 1-2 and a Game 4 record of 2-1. The Tampa Bay Lightning have an active four-Game 4 winning streak in best-of-7 NHL playoff series irrespective of series standing. Leading a best-of-7 NHL playoff series 2-games-1, the Tampa Bay Lightning own active eight-Game 4 and eight-series winning streaks. The Florida Panthers trailed the host Tampa Bay Lightning by two goals as late as 1:44 into the third period but emerged victorious: In the history of best-of-7 NHL playoff games from 1939 through 2020, inclusive, road teams down two goals as late as 1:44 into the third period had a game record of only 26-479 (.051) - the Florida Panthers thus achieve a grade-A in-game comeback.

After Game 2: The Tampa Bay Lightning visited and topped the Florida Panthers 3-goals-1 to take a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1455 lead of 2-games-nil. When leading a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 2-games-nil, the Tampa Bay Lightning have a series record of 6-0 and a Game 3 record of 3-3. When trailing a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 2-games-nil, the Florida Panthers have a series record of 0-2 and a Game 3 record of 0-2. Twice before have the Florida Panthers trailed a best-of-7 NHL playoff series 2-games-nil; in both cases, Florida was swept from the playoffs.

After Game 1: The Tampa Bay Lightning visited and bested the Florida Panthers 5-goals-4 to take a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1455 lead of 1-game-nil. When leading a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1-game-nil, the Tampa Bay Lightning have a series record of 9-2 and a Game 2 record of 6-5. When trailing a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 1-game-nil, the Florida Panthers have a series record of 0-4 and a Game 2 record of 2-2. The Tampa Bay Lightning trailed the host Florida Panthers by a goal as late as 12:59 into the third period but prevailed: In the history of best-of-7 NHL playoff games from 1939 through 2020, inclusive, road teams down a goal as late as 12:59 into the third period had a game record of only 101-533 (.159) - the Tampa Bay Lightning thus achieve a grade-B in-game comeback. The series 1455 Game 1 loss by the Florida Panthers extends their NHL playoff Game 1 losing streak to four straight.

Pre-series assessment: In the 2020-21 NHL regular season, the Florida Panthers finished four points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning. From 1939 through the 2020 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 14-19 (.424) in those series against those opponents. MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1455 is the ninth best-of-7 NHL playoff series for the Florida Panthers, and the 29th for the Tampa Bay Lightning. In best-of-7 NHL playoff series, the Florida Panthers have an all-rounds series record of 3-5 (with an active five-series losing streak), a Preliminary-round series record of 1-4 (with an active four-series losing streak in the Preliminary round), and a Game 1 record of 4-4, while the Tampa Bay Lightning have an all-rounds series record of 18-10 (with an active four-series winning streak befitting a defending NHL champion), a Preliminary-round series record of 7-5, and a Game 1 record of 11-17. Series 1455 is the first best-of-7 NHL playoff series meeting between the Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning.