The Lightning will defend their teammates, but they don’t have many enforcer types. Defenseman Emil Lilleberg is the exception, but he struggled enough with his own game Tuesday. Still, if there’s someone who can send a message early in Game 2, it’s Lilleberg. And it might be as good for his game as anything else.

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.

Matthew Tkachuk had two power-play goals and an assist in his first game after a two-month absence and the Florida Panthers opened defense of their Stanley Cup title with a 6-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in the opener of the teams’ first-round playoff series.