Ousted Lightning concede it's Panthers' turn to rule rivalry - ESPN

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 is 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 repeating the feat this postseason.

«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