The Ottawa Senators come into tonight’s game against the Florida Panthers two points back of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference which gives the Tkachuk Bowl some extra juice.
Matthew and Brady Tkachuk will meet on the ice for the first time since the duo helped Team USA win gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan.
It’s always a fun night when these two get together.
“Fun having all of the family in town,’’ Matthew Tkachuk said after morning skate. “The schedule worked out great. We got back on Sunday night, got to see them that night and all day [Monday]. No complaints. Got to catch up.”
The Panthers have lost their past three games coming into tonight and will have another ramshackle lineup due to all the injuries.
NOTES: SENATORS at PANTHERS
Aaron Ekblad will tie Sasha Barkov as the franchise’s all-time leader in games played tonight — whether he wants to or not.
Sam Bennett is back in the lineup after missing the past two games. Paul Maurice said Bennett was on a previously undisclosed maternity leave. Congrats to the Bennett Family!
Evan Rodrigues’ season is over; he will have surgery on his fractured finger on Wednesday.
The Panthers will host their annual Pride Night tonight with a special national anthem performance by the Gay Men’s Chorus of South Florida. There will be exclusive player signed Pride jerseys, designed by artist Trey Opp, are available for bidding now at FlaPanthers.givesmart.com.
Starting Goalies: The Panthers will have Daniil Tarasov in net tonight; Linus Ullmark goes for the Senators.
How to Watch/Stream: The Panthers are back on local TV tonight. It can be streamed locally on Panthers+ and nationally on ESPN+.
NHL Betting Odds: The Senators are healthy favorites tonight at -185 on the money line. If you think Matthew wins this Tkachuk Bowl, a $100 bet pays $145 for the Panthers.
ON DECK: GAME No. 74
OTTAWA SENATORS at FLORIDA PANTHERS
PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS (35-35-3) LINES
23 Carter Verhaeghe // 9 Sam Bennett // 19 Matthew Tkachuk
11 Mackie Samoskevich // 27 Eetu Luostarinen // 10 A.J. Greer
70 Jesper Boqvist // 92 Tomas Noseke // 18 Noah Gregor
29 Cole Reinhardt // 71 Luke Kunin // 24 Vinnie Hinstroza
42 Gus Forsling // 5 Aaron Ekblad
6 Donovan Sebrango // 3 Seth Jones
7 Dmitry Kulikov // 20 Mike Benning
40 Daniil Tarasov
72 Sergei Bobrovsky
Scratched: Nolan Foote
Injured: Evan Rodrigues (broken finger), Sam Reinhart (foot), Niko Mikkola (knee), Anton Lundell (upper body), Cole Schwindt (lower body), Uvis Balinskis (fractured foot), Brad Marchand (lower body), Sasha Barkov (knee), Jonah Gadjovich (upper body)
PROJECTED OTTAWA SENATORS (38-25-10) LINES
19 Drake Batherson // 18 Tim Stutzle // 28 Claude Giroux
7 Brady Tkachuk // 24 Dylan Cozens // 71 Ridly Greig
21 Nick Cousins // 12 Shane Pinto // 22 Michael Amadio
37 Warren Foegele // 89 Lars Eller // 20 Fabian Zetterlund
43 Tyler Kleven // 2 Artem Zub
33 Nikolas Matinpalo // 10 Jordan Spence
60 Lassi Thompson // 58 Carter Yakemchuk
35 Linus Ullmark
47 James Reimer
Scratched: Stephen Halliday, Kurtis MacDermid, Jorian Donovan
Injured: Thomas Chabot (upper body), Jake Sanderson (upper body), Nick Jensen (lower body), Dennis Gilbert (upper body)
