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).

And by the midway point, the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers had run away with Game 1. The Lightning allowed five goals on Florida’s first 11 shots, sucking the energy out of the building and losing the home-ice advantage Tampa Bay had worked for in an eventual 6-2 loss.

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.