Fresh off a rather lackluster performance at Winter Classic, the Florida Panthers (21-16-3) return to Amerant Bank Arena to play host to the juggernaut that is the Colorado Avalanche (31-2-7) this evening.
The Panthers were the better team on the stat sheet, but the scoreboard told a completely different story as the New York Rangers rolled to a 5-1 victory in front of a sold-out crowd at LoanDepot Park on Friday. Sam Reinhart scored the Panthers only goal, on the power play, with the assists going to Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand. Sergei Bobrovsky had a tough night, surrendering four goals, two each to Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin, on just 19 shots.
Colorado is on a season-long roll that has them atop the NHL standings with 69 points. They have won ten straight and are 12-0-1 over the last 13 games after beating the Carolina Hurricanes 5-3 in Raleigh last night. Nathan MacKinnon leads the league with 35 goals and 74 points. Cale Makar tops all NHL defensemen in scoring with 45 points. Goaltenders Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood have just one loss in regulation apiece. Gulp…
- WHEN: 5 p.m. ET
- WHERE: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
- ON THE TUBE: Scripps, Altitude
- ON THE DIAL: 560 WQAM (D/B), 106.3 ESPN (PB), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)
- SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #GoAvsGo, #COLvsFLA, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: Mile High Hockey
- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 2 of 2 (0-1)
- LAST MEETING: @COL 6, FLA 2 (Recap) – 12/11/2025
- NEXT MEETING: Stanley Cup Final or 2026-27 regular season
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Florida: Tarasov (4-6-2 .899 / 2.96 0SO) Colorado: Wedgewood (18-1-4 .918 / 2.17 2SO)
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / Colorado
Sunday in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances)
- MONTREAL 4, Dallas 3 (OT)
Idle: TBL (53P), DET (52P), BUF (46P), BOS (46P), OTT (45P), TOR (45P)