#florida-panthers

#florida-panthers

Florida shook off disappointing losses to Toronto and Montreal and left Canada with a big two points after grinding out a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night. Gustav Forsling and Carter Verhaeghe each had a goal and and assist and Evan Rodrigues ended a long goalless drought to knot the score in the first period. Aaron Ekblad contributed a pair of helpers and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 17 of 19 shots to collect his 18th win of the campaign.

Brad Marchand joined already-named Florida Panthers teammate Sam Reinhart on Canada's 2026 Winter Olympic team. The 37-year-old Marchand is enjoying a stellar season, leading the Panthers in the scoring with 23 goals, 22 assists and 45 points. Marchand and Reinhart for Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off this past February. It won't be official until Friday, however, defenseman Seth Jones has reportedly been named to the United States entry for the tournament in Milano Cortina.

"I thought we played well," Wilson said. "I mean, it's two teams play a similar style. Hard hockey, it's big boy hockey. "The effort was there," he added. "The guys were competing, and it was a fun hockey game, but a frustrating one."

The year 2025 was defined as much by its major milestones as by the quiet moments in between. This collection features the Sun Sentinel staff's most visual work of the year, from the high-energy celebrations of a Florida Panthers championship to local scenes of everyday life. View the people, places, and community events that made 2025 memorable across Broward and Palm Beach counties.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Matthew Tkachuk is back on the ice with the Florida Panthers, appearing at practice on Sunday for the first time this season and more than four months after he had surgery to repair a sports hernia and torn adductor muscle. Tkachuk has not played since Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, when the Panthers clinched their second consecutive title by again topping the Edmonton Oilers. He went through the summer trying to rehab - but eventually decided that he needed the surgery.

Florida scored three times in the second half of the third period to erase a three-goal deficit and then outdid the Carolina Hurricanes in the shootout to post a stunning 4-3 victory over the Eastern Conference's top team last night. Brad Marchand, Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart each had a goal and an assist and Evan Rodrigues scored the shootout-winner in the top of the fourth round and added two assists in the stunning comeback.

But for most of the two teams' existence, the rivalry was purely geographical, with the hockey world largely focusing on other feuds or thriving franchises. Despite achieving far less success in the 23 years after they made the Cup Final in 1996, the Panthers won the lion's share of games against the Lightning. In that same 23-year span, the Cats had a sub-.500 record against the Lightning in only seven seasons, and the club's all-time record against their in-state rival is 79-54-29.

As the clock headed towards overtime, Lundell won an offensive zone draw back to Aaron Ekblad, who pushed the puck forward to Sam Reinhart. Reinhart sent a pass from the right boards down low to Eetu Luostarinen, who tipped it across the goal mouth. Lundell was able to bat the puck out of the air and just inside the post to give Florida its third straight win.

Slumping Florida finally earned a point in its current six-game homestand, which is turning out to be downright disastrous, in Thursday's 2-1 overtime loss to the Nashville Predators. New dad Carter Verhaeghe scored the Panthers' only goal, with the assists going to Sam Bennett and A.J. Greer, late in the first period. The Cats couldn't add on and Ryan O'Reilly tied the tilt with 6:19 left in regulation before former Bolt Steven Stamkos won it with 57 seconds left in the extra session.

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 31 shots to make Sam Reinhart's first period snipe stand up in Florida's 1-0 win over the New Jersey Devils. It was Bobrovsky's second shutout of the season and the 51st of his career. Gustav Forsling drew the lone assist on Reinhart's goal, which gave Sam 1 the NHL lead in game-winning goals (five). A couple of milestones took place in Thursday's contest. Defenseman Jeff Petry suited up for his 1,000th NHL game and forward prospect Jack Devine played his first.

The Florida Panthers will be without one of their top defensive forwards, Eetu Luostarinen, on a week-to-week basis after he suffered a unique off-the-ice injury. According to team reporter Jameson Olive, head coach Paul Maurice announced that Luostarinen recently suffered burns during "a barbecue accident." Luostarinen's burns weren't severe enough to require an overnight hospital stay, but the Finnish forward's return date is unknown until he feels comfortable enough to put his gear back on.

The Florida Panthers get another day off to bask in the goal-scoring glory of Monday night's wild 8-5 victory over the Vancouver Canucks. Florida has posted a 2-1 record on its current five-game homestand and will face the New Jersey Devils tomorrow night at Amerant Bank Arena. The Devils were soundly beaten 5-1 by the Tampa Bay Lightning at Benchmark International Arena last night.

On Friday, rookie Jack Devine tallied twice in the third period to lead the Checkers to a 4-1 victory. Brian Pinho's power-play goal, assisted by Devine, tied the tilt 19 seconds into the final frame. Devine scored the eventual game-winner 1:41 later, from Pinho and Nolan Foote, and then got the clincher into an empty net at 19:12. Riese Gaber notched a second empty-netter 30 seconds later to complete the scoring. Cooper Black stopped 17 of 18 shots to outduel Syracuse's Ryan Fanti.