The rested Florida Panthers (43-25-3) will host the desperate Utah Hockey Club (32-29-11) for the first time at at Amerant Bank Arena tonight in front of a national TV audience on NHL Network.
Brad Marchand is expected to make his Panthers debut this evening. Marchand, who was acquired from the Boston Bruins on March 7 for a conditional second-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft, has not played since March 1. Florida rallied for a 4-3 shootout win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in its last outing on Sunday. Sam Reinhart scored twice and Anton Lundell tied the tilt with 5:31 left in regulation before Sergei Bobrovsky (24 saves) made Aleksander Barkov’s goal to open the first round of the skills competition stand up.
After dropping a 5-1 decision to Detroit in Salt Lake City on Monday, the Clubbers got completely dismantled (8-0) by the Tampa Bay Lightning last night at Amalie Arena. Utah has given up 26 goals in the last five games as overworked goaltender Karel Vejmelka’s bid to carry his team to the playoffs in its first season in the Beehive State has faded, due in large to part to the post-4 Nations ascent of the St. Louis Blues. Never underestimate a wounded Mammoth they say (actually they don’t, but I do). The Cats would be wise to capture both points tonight.
- WHEN: 7 p.m. ET
- WHERE: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
- ON THE TUBE: Scripps, NHL Network, Utah16
- ON THE DIAL: Radio Libre 790 (D/B), 1230 The Gambler (PB), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)
- SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #UtahHC, #UTAvsFLA, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: KSL Sports
- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 2 of 2 (1-0)
- LAST MEETING: FLA 4, @UTA 1 (Recap) – 1/8/2025
- NEXT MEETING: Stanley Cup or 2025-26 regular season
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Florida: Bobrovsky (30-15-2 .907 / 2.46 5SO) Utah: Vejmelka (21-20-6 .902 / 2.62 1SO)
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / Utah
Friday in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances)
- MONTREAL (33-29-9 75P) at Carolina (43-24-4 90P) 7 p.m.
Idle: TOR (90P), TBL (89P), OTT (81P), DET (72P), BOS (69P), BUF (66P)