Sunrise, FL (My Sportsbook) - Two clubs hoping to get on the up-and-up clash at the newly renamed Office Depot Center tonight when the Florida Panthers host the Tampa Bay Lightning to open the season.

Florida finished with the Eastern Conference's second-worst record a season ago, while Tampa Bay placed right in front in 13th place. The Panthers have not qualified for the playoffs in two years, while the Lightning have not made it since 1996.

The Panthers enter the season loaded with promising talent that still needs developing. Fiery coach Mike Keenan has himself a young club that will be without all-world sniper Pavel Bure, who was dealt to New York last March. Bure's absence leaves the scoring onus on players like mammoth center Viktor Kozlov and fellow pivot Olli Jokinen, who have been both injury-prone and underachievers to this point.

But the most excitement in South Florida has been generated by young kids like 19-year-old defenseman Jay Bouwmeester and 19-year-old centerman Stephen Weiss. Weiss was impressive in seven games with the club late last season, while Bouwmeester, the third-overall selection in the June Draft, proved he's NHL ready with a solid training camp.

Bouwmeester will help protect goaltender Roberto Luongo, who has been the one bright spot on the team the last two years. The 23-year-old netminder was 16-33-4 in 2001-02, with a 2.77 goals-against average and .915 save- percentage. Those numbers should improve as the blueline corps in front of him, which was bolstered by the addition of veteran Dmitry Yushkevich, improves.

Florida, which begins its 10th campaign, is 3-5-1 in season openers but has dropped its last two.

Tampa Bay, meanwhile, was somewhat active in the offseason, especially early on. Rookie GM Jay Feaster accomplished his goals of acquiring a top-six forward and top-four defenseman at the draft, obtaining Ruslan Fedotenko from Philadelphia and Brad Lukowich from Dallas. Add those names to the likes of Fredrik Modin and Martin St. Louis, who were both injured last season, and the Bolts should improve.

But in the end the club's ultimate success likely hinges on the performance of center Vincent Lecavalier, who enters his fifth NHL season after underachieving in the first four. The former No. 1 overall pick tallied 20 goals and 17 assists in 76 games last season.

Tampa Bay does have the luxury of top-notch goaltending, as Nikolai Khabibulin returns for his second go-around with the team. The Bulin Wall, who especially shined in the first half, went 24-32-10 with a 2.36 GAA and .920 SP in 70 appearances, 66 of which were starts.

The Lightning are 4-4-2 in their 10 previous season openers, and went 3-2 against the Panthers a year ago. The Bolts have won five of the last seven clashes overall, including three straight in South Florida. The three consecutive road victories in the series have come after a 12-game winless skid.