The four-goal lead easily stood up, with the Panthers defeating the Lightning 6-2 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Amalie Arena. Game 2 of the best-of-7 series is Thursday (6:30 p.m. ET; TBS, TRU, MAX, FDSNSUN, SCRIPPS).

With a raucous crowd and optimism abound, the Tampa Bay Lightning finally opened their Eastern Conference first-round series with the rival Florida Panthers on Tuesday night, only to drop a deflating 6-2 decision to the defending Stanley Cup champions.

The Panthers out-hit the Lightning by a 48-28 count. They particularly made their presence felt in the first period when they were credited with 19 hits to only nine for the Lightning. If Jon Cooper is concerned about what the Panthers did to his team physically, he’s not letting on.