The Florida Panthers (2-0) will close out its season-opening three-game homestand when they face the Ottawa Senators (1-0) tonight at Amerant Bank Arena in suburban Sunrise.
Florida followed up its nationally-televised opening night win against Chicago with a 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday. The modus operandi was similar with Anton Lundell providing a first period power-play goal and Brad Marchand bagging the go-ahead goal early in the third. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 19 of 20 shots to make Marchand’s goal stand as the winner and with assists, newcomers Jeff Petry and Luke Kunin picked up their first points as Panthers.
While the Cats were busy beating the Flyers, the Senators opened their 34th season in the league with an exciting 5-4 road win over their 1991 expansion brethren, the Tampa Bay Lightning. Shane Pinto (2G/1A), Artem Zub (1G/2A) and Brady Tkachuk (3A) each finished the game with three points. Former Panther Claude Giroux notched the game-winner and Dylan Cozens also lit the lamp for Ottawa. Linus Ullmark made 21 saves to help topple the Bolts.
- WHEN: 7 p.m. ET
- WHERE: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
- ON THE TUBE: Scripps
- ON THE DIAL: 104.3 WQAM (D/B), 106.3 West Palm (PB)
- SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #GoSensGo, #OTTvsFLA, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: Silver Seven Sens
- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 1 of 4
- LAST MEETING: @OTT 3, FLA 0 (Recap) – 4/5/2025
- NEXT MEETING: January 10, 2026
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Florida: Bobrovsky (2-0-0 .923 / 1.51 0SO) Ottawa: Ullmark (1-0-0 .901 / 4.01 0SO)
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / Ottawa
Saturday in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances)
- BUFFALO (0-1-0 0P) at BOSTON (2-0-0 4P) 7 p.m.
- TORONTO (1-0-0 2P) at DETROIT (0-1-0 0P) 7 p.m.
- New Jersey (0-1-0 0P) at TAMPA BAY (0-1-0 0P) 7 p.m.
- MONTREAL (1-1-0 2P) at Chicago (0-1-1 1P) 7 p.m. (NHL Network)