#florida-panthers

#florida-panthers

Florida started the trek north with a 2-1 shootout win over the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. Matthew Tkachuk set up Sam Bennett's seond period one-timer to collect his first point of the season. Daniil Tarasov made 17 saves to get the Cats to the shootout, where Anton Lundell and Sam Reinhart made quick work of Connor Hellebuyck, keeping the Panthers within five points of a playoff spot.

Sharks defenseman Vincent Desharnais upended Panthers forward Mackie Samoskevich along the boards in the San Jose end. Evan Rodrigues then came in and leveled Desharnais with a hit from behind. That caused a melee to the side of the Sharks' net, with Nedeljkovic jumping to get a piece of Rodrigues. A few seconds later, Bobrovsky skated the length of the ice to get at Nedeljkovic.

After remarks by the president and members of the team, the Panthers presented Trump with a custom jersey with his last name and the number 47 a longstanding tradition for championship visits. The Panthers, however, didn't stop there. In addition to the jersey, the team gifted him with a gold hockey stick and two championship rings. It's unclear if the stick was made of real gold, but it certainly had some heft to it.

A.J. Greer got off the schneid, scoring a pair of goals to help the Florida Panthers topple the Buffalo Sabres by a 4-3 count at Key Bank Center. Aided by an early interference minor on Josh Doan, the Panthers drew first blood 2:35 into the action when Carter Verhaeghe took a pass from Sam Reinhart, who was knocked down, and fed Uvis Baliniskis at the left point.

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.

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.