SUNRISE — The Florida Panthers finally play their first home game of the 2026-27 NHL season tonight when the Minnesota Wild roll into Amerant Bank Arena.
The Panthers have some injury problems and will be without Sasha Barkov and Brad Marchand tonight.
Panthers lines: projected lineup and starting goalie →
Only the Wild have some injury issues as well and are coming off a 3-2 loss in Tampa on Thursday.
Florida comes into tonight 2-0-2.
The Panthers get a home game tonight then head right back on the road for a back-to-back road set starting Monday afternoon — Happy Thanksgiving, Canada! — in Buffalo.
“It feels like the season is starting today,’’ Paul Maurice said Saturday morning. “It felt like such an incredibly short training camp then we went on an eight-day road trip where no one is cheering for you. The season starts tonight. I think, looking back to last year, it was a tough year. But it was a tough year for our fans, too, because they had to watch it.
”They are pretty used to exciting games in the spring and summer, and they were great to our guys, great to our team. We weren’t good some nights … and the fans were always supportive and that’s the thing I appreciated the most.’’
The Panthers will be welcoming a number of new faces to Sunrise today — not including the return of old friends Radko Gudas and Jacob Markstrom who have, you know, been Panthers before.
Sam Lafferty makes his Panthers debut tonight, with Brady Tkachuk, Lars Eller, Garnet Hathaway, and Bokondji Imama making their home debuts with Florida.
“Can’t wait,’’ Tkachuk said. “I have seen how great the atmosphere is, it’s an amazing fanbase. Excited to share that experience with everyone.’’
NOTES: WILD at PANTHERS
The Panthers have gotten pretty good news on the injury front the past couple days: Marchand will be out six weeks, while Barkov should be back on the ice not long after.
Starting Goalies: Welcome back to Markstrom, who plays his first home game with the Panthers since Nov. 5, 2013 — a 4-3 overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers. Scottie Upshall had two goals in the game but it was not enough for the Panthers. Minnesota is expected to go back to Jesper Wallstedt.
How to Watch/Stream: The Panthers are back home on Scripps — with a special one-hour pregame show hosted by Jessica Blaylock with special guest star Jeff Chychrun.
NHL Betting Odds: The Panthers are favorites at -135 on the money line at the local sports book. If you think the Panthers open up their home season in style and bet a straight money line win, it takes a $135 wager to win $100.
ON DECK: GAME No. 5
HOME OPENER
MINNESOTA WILD at FLORIDA PANTHERS
When: Saturday, 6 p.m.
Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SW Fla)
Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+
Radio: WQAM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM. Radio Streaming: SiriusXM, NHL App
Local Betting Odds — Panthers Favored: MoneyLine (-135); Puck Line -1.5 (+175); O/U 5.5 (-120/+100)
Last Season: Tied 1-1
This Season — At Minnesota: Jan. 14. At Florida: Saturday.
All-time Regular Season Series: Minnesota leads 22-10-3, 1 tie
Up Next for the Panthers: Monday at Buffalo Sabres, 1 p.m.
PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS (2-0-2) LINES
8 Brady Tkachuk // 20 Lars Eller // 13 Sam Reinhart
23 Carter Verhaeghe // 9 Sam Bennett // 19 Matthew Tkachuk
27 Eetu Luostarinen // 15 Anton Lundell // 95 Sandis Vilmanis
14 Bokondji Imama // 18 Sam Lafferty // 21 Garnet Hathaway
42 Gus Forsling // 5 Aaron Ekblad
77 Niko Mikkola // 3 Seth Jones
7 Dmitry Kulikov // 6 Radko Gudas
25 Jacob Markstrom
40 Akira Schmid
Scratched: Uvis Balinskis
Returned to Charlotte: Alexander Petrovic
Injured: Sasha Barkov (knee/LTIR), Brad Marchand (knee), Jonah Gadjovich (upper body/LTIR)
PROJECTED MINNESOTA WILD (2-1-1) LINES
97 Kirill Kaprizov // 14 Joel Eriksson Ek // 12 Matt Boldy
20 Blake Coleman // 38 Ryan Hartman // 49 Maxim Shabanov
13 Yakov Trenin // 22 Danila Yurov // 10 Bobby Brink
78 Nico Sturm // 47 Michael McCarron // 61 Rieger Lorentz
43 Quinn Hughes // 46 Jared Spurgeon
3 Olli Maatta // 25 Jonas Brodin
48 Daemon Hunt // 24 Zach Bogosian
30 Jesper Wallstedt
31 Calvin Pickard
Scratched: David Spacek, Matt Kiersted
Injured: Marcus Foligno (lower body), Brock Faber (skull fracture), Filip Gustavsson (lower body), Nick Foligno (upper body)
Minnesota Wild Lines Courtesy NHL.com
George Richards is the publisher of Florida Hockey Now and has been the beat writer covering the NHL Florida … More about George Richards, FHN Publisher