The set-up: The current NHL season opened Wednesday but the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning will take the ice for the first time in the 2017-18 season, tonight. After the teams finished 1-2 in the Atlantic Division two seasons ago (the Lightning advanced all the way to the Eastern Conference finals), both sat out last year's Stanley Cup playoffs. Florida would finish sixth in the Atlantic at 35-26-11 and the Lightning fifth, at 42-30-10. The teams split four games last season but the Panthers are 6-2-1 over the last nine meetings.

Florida: Injuries had a lot to do with the Panthers going from 2015-16 Atlantic Division champions to sixth place one year later. Florida opens the new season with five of its top eight scorers gone, including future Hall of Famer Jaromir Jagr. However, first-year head coach Bob Boughner said he hopes the return to health of several key players such as defenseman Aaron Ekblad can lead to a revival: "The players are buying into the systems,'' the coach told reporters. "And when they see results, it's an easier sell for us. Ekblad, who was hampered by concussions last season and finished with 21 points and a minus-23 rating in 68 games, after averaging 37.5 points and a plus-15 in his first two NHL campaigns. Center Aleksander Barkov was second on the team with 52 points despite missing 20 games in 2016-17 while wing Jonathan Huberdeau (26 points) was limited to 31 contests by injury and center Nick Bjugstad played in only 54 games. Top scorer Vincent Trocheck (23 goals, 54 points) returns to center one of the top two lines and the Panthers are solid in goal with Roberto Luongo and James Reimer. Luongo goes tonight.

Tampa Bay: Lightning captain Steven Stamkos makes his first regular-season appearance in almost 11 months, tonight. The two-time Rocket Richard Trophy winner as the NHL's top goal scorer put up 20 points in 16-plus games before suffering a knee injury Nov. 15 at Detroit. He is determined to lead the Lightning back to the playoffs after they came up one point short last season. Stamkos is joined by a healthy Ryan Callahan, who missed all but 18 games last season because of a hip injury, and Norris Trophy finalist Victor Hedman with an experienced group that fell victim to a slow start in 2016-17 after two long playoff runs. Nikita Kucherov led the team with 40 goals and 85 points in Stamkos' absence, with defenseman Victor Hedman leading the team with 56 assists and continuing to establish himself as one of the league's top defenders. The team's No. 3 scorer, Jonathan Drouin, was traded away, but the rest of the scoring nucleus remains intact. Tampa Bay added two veterans from winning programs, signing 38-year-old winger Chris Kunitz from the Pittsburgh Penguins and 33-year-old defenseman Dan Girardi from the New York Rangers. Andrei Vasilevskiy opens the season as a No. 1 goalie for the first time, taking over that role after Ben Bishop was traded away last season.

The pick: These Florida state rivals meet on back-to-back nights to open the campaign, first in Tampa tonight and then Saturday night in Miami. Can it be as easy as taking the Lightning here and then the Panthers tomorrow? I'll 'bite,' making Tampa Bay a 10* play. Check back on Saturday for an update!