SUNRISE, Fla. – Get the popcorn ready.

Meeting for the first time this season, the Florida Panthers (9-7-1) will host the Tampa Bay Lightning (8-6-2) for the latest Battle of Florida at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET.

The last time the two teams met in the preseason, a Lightning forward Scott Sabourin assault on Aaron Ekblad, one he would later receive a four-game suspension for, kicked off a powder keg of a night that ended with 13 game misconducts and 312 penalty minutes.

While there’s likely less fireworks this time around, the rivalry is certainly never dull.

“Division game,” Ekblad said of the highly anticipated tilt after Friday’s practice. “A lot of pace, physicality, all the things you’d expect in a divisional game. We’re excited to play.”

The Panthers are enteri

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