The revenge-minded Florida Panthers (24-14-2) will open a two-game roadie when they pay a visit the Colorado Avalanche (24-15-1) tonight at Denver’s Ball Arena.
After dropping their first game of 2025 to the Carolina Hurricanes, the Panthers bounced back with a gritty 3-2 shootout win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday to close its holiday season homestand with a 2-3 record. Gustav Forsling and Matthew Tkachuk lit the lamp in regulation and Sam Reinhart and Anton Lundell converted in the skills competetion. Backup Spencer Knight delivered a strong performance. He stopped 29 of 31 shots over the first 65-minutes before denying Rickard Rakell and Sidney Crosby in the shootout.
The surging Avalanche had won six straight games before falling 2-1 in a shootout to Jakub Dobes and the Motreal Canadiens in their last outing on Saturday night. Recent acquistion Mackenzie Blackwood made 22 stops and Mikko Rantanen scored a power-play goal to stake Colorado to an early lead. Nathan MacKinnon is currently riding a seven-game point streak and leads the NHL in scoring with 65 points.
- WHEN: 9 p.m. ET
- WHERE: Ball Arena – Denver, CO
- ON THE TUBE: Scripps, Altitude
- ON THE DIAL: Radio Libre 790 (D/B), 1230 The Gambler (PB), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)
- SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #GoAvsGo, #FLAvsCOL, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: Mile High Hockey
- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 2 of 2 (0-1)
- LAST MEETING: COL 7, @FLA 4 (Recap) – 11/23/2024
- NEXT MEETING: Stanley Cup Final or 2025-26 season
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Florida: Bobrovsky (17-8-1 .899 / 2.78 1SO) Colorado: Blackwood (12-10-4 .917 / 2.65 1SO)
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / Colorado
Monday in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances)
- Washington (26-10-3 55P) at BUFFALO (14-25-5 33P) 7 p.m. (NHL Network)
- Vancouver (18-12-8 44P) at MONTREAL (18-18-3 39P) 7:30 p.m.
Idle: TOR (54P), BOS (45P), TBL (42P), OTT (40P), DET (38P)