After edging the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 in a shootout yesterday, the Florida Panthers will take on the host Tampa Bay Lightning (0-1) late this afternoon in their second game of the 2025 NHL Prospect Tournament. Carolina will face the Nashville Predators (1-0) in the first game of the day at 2 p.m.

Sandis Vilmanis opened the scoring in Friday’s game, beating Ruslan Khazheyev unassisted with 1:18 left in the first period after collecting a turnover at the Carolina blue line. Bradly Nadeau countered 53 seconds into the middle frame, firing a return pass from Aleksi Heimosalmi past Cooper Black from a sharp angle. All five Panthers touched the puck on Jack Devine’s go-ahead goal with 8:08 remaining in the third. After the defensemen combined to move the puck to Shamar Moses, he sent a backhand pass up to Robert Mastrosimone, who touched it into the middle of the ice to spring Devine. The NCAA scoring leader from last season broke in on Nikita Quapp and sent a hard shot by his glove that found the back of the net. The Hurricanes applied pressure and eventually tied the tilt when Justin Robidas managed to keep the puck away from Kai Schwindt and solved Black with a shot from the high slot at 16:30. The Panthers got shootout goals from Hunter St. Martin, Ryan McAllister and Eamon Powell, whose conversion in the top of the sixth round was the difference. Black was easily Florida’s best player, going the distance in the net and making a ton of saves, while the team’s top skater was the 21-year-old Vilmanis.

WHEN: 5 p.m. ET

WHERE: AdventHealth Center Ice – Wesley Chapel, FL

STREAMING: 

ENEMY INTEL: Raw Charge

SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #GoBolts, #FLAvsTBL, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook

NEXT GAME: Nashville Predators – September 15, 2025

Panthers roster

Forwards: Shea Busch (61), Brett Chorske (45), Josh Davies (56), Jack Devine (33), Anton Lundmark (48), Robert Mastrosimone (98), Ryan McAllister (76), Liam McLinskey (43), Shamar Moses (34), Gracyn Sawchyn (59), Kai Schwindt (97), Hunter St. Martin (85), Ben Steeves (73), Cristophe Tellier (55), Sandis Vilmanis (95)

Defensemen: Marek Alscher (51), Carson Cameron (74), Mikulas Hovorka (96), Colton Huard (81), Ludvig Jansson (54), Eamon Powell (91), Phip Waugh (36)

Goalies: Cooper Black (31), Louis-Antoine Denault (41), Kirill Gerasimyuk (80)

Showcase rules

Any skater or goaltender in each of the four organizations on an entry-level contract (or less), provided they are 24 or younger with fewer than 20 games of NHL experience, are eligible to participate in the Prospects Showcase. Exceptions may be permitted with prior approval from all teams. Teams will dress 18 skaters and two goaltenders for each contest, consisting of three 20-minute periods followed by a five-minute, three-on-three overtime period if the game remains tied after regulation. Regardless of the final score, games will conclude with a five-player-per-team shootout.