The Florida Panthers (1-0) will play the middle tilt of a three-game homestand when they face the Philadelphia Flyers tonight at Amerant Bank Arena in season-opener for the visitors.
Florida took its first step toward a potential three-peat by beating the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 to open the 2025-26 NHL season. A.J. Greer, Carter Verhaeghe and Jesper Boqvist scored the goals and Mackie Samoskevich had two assists in the win, which wasn’t as close as the score makes it seem. Even without lynchpins Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk, the Cats looked plenty dangerous and only a superb performance by former goaler Spencer Knight kept the Blackhawks close.
The Flyers begin their 59th season away from home, they’ll play the Hurricanes in Raleigh next, before returning to Wells Fargo Center for their home opener against the Panthers on Monday night. Philadelphia finished the 2024-25 campaign in last place in the Metropolitan Division with 33 wins and 76 points. Travis Konency led the team in scoring with 76 points. Defensemen Rasmus Ristolainen and Cam York start the season on injured reserve.
- WHEN: 7 p.m. ET
- WHERE: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
- ON THE TUBE: Scripps, NBCSP
- ON THE DIAL: 104.3 WQAM (D/B), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)
- SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #LetsGoFlyers, #PHIvsFLA, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: Broad Street Hockey
- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 1 of 3
- LAST MEETING: @PHI 4, FLA 3 (Recap) – 1/13/2025
- NEXT MEETING: October 13, 2025
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Florida: Bobrovsky (1-0-0 .895 / 2.00 0SO) Philadelphia: Vladar
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / Philadelphia
Thursday in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances)
- Chicago (0-1-0 0P) at BOSTON (1-0-0 2P) 7 p.m.
- New York Rangers (0-1-0 0P) at BUFFALO 7 p.m.
- MONTREAL (0-1-0 0P) at DETROIT 7 p.m.
- OTTAWA at TAMPA BAY 7 p.m.
Idle: TOR (2P)