Image: Todd Little

The Florida Panthers (3-2-2) will play on home ice for just the second time this season when they host the road weary Vancouver Canucks (2-6-0) tonight at Amerant Bank Arena in suburban Sunrise.

Florida snapped a two-game losing streak with an emphatic 7-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday that saw newcomer Akira Schmid record his first win with the team. Brady Tkachuk finally found the back of the net, notching a natural hat trick and adding an assist. Big brother Matthew tied the franchise record with five assists in the game and Seth Jones matched a franchise record for defenseman with four helpers. Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart each scored twice in the rout that saw the Cats go a tidy four-for-six on the power play.

The Canucks will be playing the fifth of a six-game trip east that has seen them drop the first four tilts in regulation to up their losing streak to five. On Tuesday, second period goals from Max Sasson and Brock Boeser pulled them into a 2-2 tie with the New York Islanders, but they couldn’t overcome Kyle Palmieri’s marker 5:38 into the final frame. Leevi Meriläinen made 35 saves in the loss and should get the start over struggling Kevin Lankinen. Elias Pettersson leads Vancouver in scoring with nine points in eight games.

WHEN: 7 p.m. ET

WHERE: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL

ON THE TUBE: Scripps

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

SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #Canucks, #VANvsFLA, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook

ENEMY INTEL: Nucks Misconduct

FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 1 of 2

LAST MEETING: VAN 5, FLA 2 (Recap) – 3/17/26

NEXT MEETING: January 9, 2027

PROJECTED STARTERS: Florida: Schmid (1-1-1 .875 / 3.72 0SO) Vancouver: Meriläinen (1-1-0 .926 / 2.40 0SO)

PLAYER STATS: Florida / Vancouver

Thursday in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances)

BUFFALO (3-3-1 7P) at TORONTO (3-3-1 7P) 7 p.m.

New York Islanders (3-3-0 6P) at OTTAWA (5-2-0 10P) 7 p.m.

Seattle (5-2-0 10P) at TAMPA BAY (4-2-0 8P) 7 p.m.

Philadelphia (0-5-3 3P) at DETROIT (1-3-2 4P) 7:30 p.m.

Idle: BOS (10P), MTL (7P)