Image: Todd Little
The undefeated Florida Panthers kick off a three-game jaunt through the Golden State when they take on the San Jose Sharks in their season-opener at SAP Center.
Florida opened its 33rd season of play with a highly-satisfying 1-0 overtime win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Gustav Forsling struck the decisive blow with 4.3 seconds left in overtime when he drove a one-timer past Brandon Bussi with the lone assist going to Carter Verhaeghe. Jacob Markström’s first game with the Cats since 2014 went swimmingly, as he stopped all 15 shots faced to post his 26th career shutout. The Panthers penalty kill (6-for-6) was awesome sauce while the power play… well, let’s just say there is room for improvement.
The young Sharks made huge strides last year, finishing with 39 wins and 86 points, a 34-point improvement from their miserable 2024-25 campaign. Macklin Celebrini exploded for 45 goals, 70 assists and 115 points in his second season in the league and fellow sophomore Will Smith was second on the squad with 24 goals and 59 points. The tandem of Yaroslav Askarov and Alex Nedeljkovic returns in net. That’s an area that could be in need of an upgrade if San Jose wants to end its long playoff drought. Paging Connor Hellebuyck.
WHEN: 10 p.m. ET
WHERE: SAP Center – San Jose, CA
ON THE TUBE: Scripps, NBCSCA
ON THE DIAL: 104.3 WQAM (D/B), 106.3 ESPN (PB), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)
SOCIALS: #FlaPanthers, #TurnItAllTeal, #FLAvsSJS, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
ENEMY INTEL: San Jose Hockey Now
FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 1 of 2
LAST MEETING: SJS 4, @FLA 1 (Recap) – 1/19/26
NEXT MEETING: February 21, 2027
PROJECTED STARTERS: Florida: Markstrom (1-0-0 1.000 / 0.00 1SO) San Jose: Askarov
PLAYER STATS: Florida / San Jose
Thursday in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances)
TAMPA BAY (0-0-0 0P) at New York Rangers (0-1-0 0P) 7 p.m.
BUFFALO (0-0-0 0P) at Columbus (0-0-0 0P) 7 p.m.
Idle: BOS (2P), MTL (2P), TOR (2P), DET (0P), OTT (0P)