SUNRISE – Amalie Arena and BB&T Center are separated by 180 miles (not driven miles, mind you), but for most of the past 28 years, the two franchises that call those arenas home might as well have been as far apart as Key West and Seattle.
Since entering the league in 1992, the Tampa Bay Lightning have reached three Stanley Cup Finals, winning twice, advanced to the Eastern Conference championship six times and qualified for the playoffs 13 times, including each of the past four seasons and six of the past seven.
The Florida Panthers, which entered the league one year after Tampa Bay, have app...
