Graphic design: Francisco Oporta & Todd Little

The Florida Panthers (12-12-2) welcome the Columbus Blues Jackets (13-9-5) to Amerant Bank Arena this afternoon for the first of three meetings between the two clubs this season.

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 had a strong game, stopping 27 of 29 shots faced.

The Blue Jackets hit Sunrise fresh off a thrilling 6-5 shootout victory over the Detroit Red Wings on home ice that gave them back-to-back wins for the first time since November 13. Adam Fantilli scored twice and Kirill Marchenko provided a power-play goal and the clincher in the skills competition. Zach Werenski is having another stellar season. He leads the team in assists (20) and points (29), and his nine goals are tied for second-most among NHL defensemen.

WHEN: 3:30 p.m. ET

WHERE: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL

ON THE TUBE: Scripps, FDSNOH

ON THE DIAL: 104.3 WQAM (D/B), 106.3 ESPN (PB), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)

SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #CBJ, #CBJvsFLA, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook

ENEMY INTEL: The Cannon

FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 1 of 3

LAST MEETING: FLA 1, @CBJ 0 (Recap) – 3/20/2025

NEXT MEETING: March 5, 2026

PROJECTED STARTERS: Florida: Tarasov (2-4-1.907 / 2.67 0SO) Columbus: Greaves (7-4-5 .901 / 2.81 0SO)

PLAYER STATS: Florida / Columbus

Saturday in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances)

New Jersey (16-10-1 33P) at BOSTON (16-13-0 32P) 7 p.m.

MONTREAL (14-9-3 31P) at TORONTO (13-11-3 29P) 7 p.m.

St. Louis (9-12-7 25P) at OTTAWA (13-10-4 30P) 7 p.m.

New York Islanders (15-10-3 33P) at TAMPA BAY (16-9-2 34P) 7 p.m.

DETROIT (14-11-3 31P) at Seattle (11-8-6 28P) 10 p.m.

Idle: BUF (26P)