NHL: Stanley Cup Playoffs-Florida Panthers at Tampa Bay Lightning - Source: Imagn — NHL: Jake Guentzel celebrates goal - Source: Imagn

Lightning’s $63,000,000 star sends clear message before must-win Game 3 against Panthers - “Backs against the wall”

Modified Apr 26, 2025 02:07 GMT

The Tampa Bay Lightning have already dug themselves a pretty deep hole to begin their first-round series with the Florida Panthers.

The Lightning dropped both games on home ice, losing 6-2 in Game 1 on Tuesday night, followed by a 2-0 shutout loss in Game 2 on Thursday night. It’s been far from an ideal start; now they head to Florida for a must-win Game 3 against the defending Stanley Cup champions.

However, Tampa Bay has plenty of championship pedigree of its own. Jake Guentzel, a Stanley Cup champion with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2017, is one of them, and he knows his team is more than capable of getting back into the series.

Guentzel spoke to the media following the Game 2 loss and insisted that the Bolts remain confident with their backs against the wall. Beat reporter Gabby Shirley shared his comments on X (formerly Twitter).

"Everyone is probably going to be talking that we're done but we believe in this locker room that we can come back. We've done it all year so, for us to go on the road and be together as a team, I think it is going to be backs against the wall for all of us," Guentzel said.

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Jake Guentzel just completed a very productive first season of the seven-year, $63 million contract he signed with the Lightning as a UFA in the 2024 offseason.

The Lightning are full of prolific playoff performers

The Tampa Bay Lightning are loaded with postseason experience and production throughout their roster. There aren’t many teams better equipped to erase a 2-0 series deficit than the Bolts.

Tampa Bay has three of the top 13 active NHLers in playoff points per game with Nikita Kucherov (4th overall), Brayden Point (10th overall) and Jake Guentzel (13th overall). Not to mention all-world netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy and superstar defenseman Victor Hedman.

After finishing with the fifth-best power play during the regular season (25.9%), Tampa Bay has gone 1-for-8 through the first two games of this series. They have to start capitalizing on the man advantage for any chance of a comeback against the Panthers.

The Lightning will look to win their first game of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs on Saturday afternoon when the series shifts to Florida. The puck drops at 1 p.m. EST at Amerant Bank Arena.

About the author

Jackson Weber is an NHL journalist at Sportskeeda with a Bcomm degree in Business and Sport Management from the University of Guelph.

Jackson has grown up as a lifelong Pittsburgh Penguins fan. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are his all-time favorite players. Watching the Penguins win the Stanley Cup three times is an experience that Jackson will never forget. Years later, you realize how rare it is to see your favorite team win even once, so three championships were just incredible.

When not watching, playing, or writing about sports, Jackson loves to cook and is passionate about health and nutrition.

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