The Florida Panthers will be part of another Opening Night celebration tonight in San Jose when they take on the quickly improving Sharks.
They had better get used to it.
The Panthers will end up being part of five Opening Nights — including their own — by the time things are done.
Florida was already part of Carolina’s festivities on Tuesday; then comes San Jose, Anaheim (Sunday), and Los Angeles (Tuesday) before the Panthers come home to take on the Minnesota Wild in Sunrise next Saturday night.
The Panthers will roll out the same lineup from Tuesday’s win — with a change in net.
PANTHERS at SHARKS NOTES
These are not the same ol’ Sharks — and the Panthers know this, first hand. After winning 10 straight against San Jose, Florida went 0-2 against the Sharks last season.
Check out San Jose Hockey Now for all of your Sharks news!
Brad Marchand practiced with the Panthers on Wednesday. Could he be back before Nov. 1?
Sasha Barkov was back Tuesday night and looked as good as ever.
Starting Goalies: After Jacob Markstrom tossed a shutout Tuesday in Raleigh, the Panthers will flip to backup Akira Schmid tonight. The Panthers already planned to split up the goaltending on this road trip. “We want to get him in. [It’s] 84 games. We don’t want to have a goaltender play a game and then sit two weeks before he gets in the next one. Yaroslav Askarov gets the net for the Sharks.
How to Watch/Stream: The Panthers are on local TV for the first time this season. Link below.
NHL Betting Odds: The Panthers are favorites for the first time this season at -145 on the money line at the local sports book. If you think the Panthers start 2-0 and bet a straight money line win, a $145 wager wins $100.
ON DECK: GAME No. 2
FLORIDA PANTHERS at SAN JOSE SHARKS
When: Thursday, 10 p.m.
Where: SAP Center; San Jose, Calif.
Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
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 (-145); Puck Line -1.5 (+160); O/U 6.5 (-105/-115)
Last Season: San Jose won 2-0
This Season — At Florida: Feb. 21. At San Jose: Thursday
All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 25-15-1, 7 ties
Up Next for the Panthers: Sunday at Anaheim Ducks, 8 p.m.
PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS (1-0-0) LINES
8 Brady Tkachuk // 16 Sasha Barkov // 13 Sam Reinhart
23 Carter Verhaeghe // 9 Sam Bennett // 19 Matthew Tkachuk
27 Eetu Luostarinen // 15 Anton Lundell // 95 Sandis Vilmanis
14 Bokondji Imama // 20 Lars Eller // 21 Garnet Hathaway
42 Gus Forsling // 5 Aaron Ekblad
77 Niko Mikkola // 3 Seth Jones
7 Dmitry Kulikov // 6 Radko Gudas
40 Akira Schmid
25 Jacob Markstrom
Scratched: Uvis Balinskis
Injured: Brad Marchand (lower body), Jonah Gadjovich (upper body)
PROJECTED SAN JOSE SHARKS (0-0-0) LINES
27 Mason Marchment // 71 Macklin Celebrini // 2 Will Smith
41 Ivar Stenberg // 21 Alexander Wennberg // 51 Collin Graf
92 Igor Chernyshov // 77 Michael Misa // 73 Tyler Toffoli
23 Barclay Goodrow // 63 Zack Ostapchuk // 44 Kiefer Sherwood
25 Darnell Nurse // 7 Michael Kesselring
5 Nolan Allan // 65 Jacob Trouba
9 Dmitry Orlov // 42 Luca Cagnoni
30 Yaroslav Askarov
33 Alex Nedeljkovic
Scratched: Ty Dellandrea, Brett Leason, Sam Dickinson
Injured: Adam Gaudette (upper body)
Sharks Lines Courtesy of 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