George Richards, FHN Publisher
FORT LAUDERDALE — The injuries continue to pile up for the Florida Panthers as they head into their final game of the 2025-26 NHL season tonight against the visiting Detroit Red Wings.
Coach Paul Maurice said he got more bad news from head athletic trainer Dave Dinapoli after Monday’s win against the New York Rangers.
Tomas Nosek, who missed the first five months of the season after injuring his knee during the summer, now has a fractured tibia sustained during a final penalty kill in the third period Monday.
“He’s walked into the coaches’ office about 25 times and has said ‘you’re not going to believe this’,,” Maurice lamented on Wednesday morning. “When he tells me that, and I feel terrible for Nosek, but I asked ‘anyone else?’ I’m expecting two guys to have broken something.’’
Gus Forsling will also be out with a lingering back injury leading to the callup of Mikulas Hovorka.
”He’s got to come out,’’ Maurice said. “There’s no value to him playing today because if he gets it banged again, we’re adding 2-3 weeks of recovery time. He’s given enough.’’
With Forsling out, the Panthers will ice five defensemen who have all played for the AHL Charlotte Checkers this season and the sixth, Donovan Sebrango, was headed to the minors early on before Florida claimed him off waivers from the Senators.
Toby Bjornfot is now the veteran on the Florida blueline with tonight being his 153rd NHL game.
Per the astute mind of radio voice Doug Plagens, the other five Florida defensemen combined have played in fewer games than Bjornfot.
“Old man Bjornfot,” Maurice joked.
The Panthers will be at 541 missed games due to injuries once tonight is complete with 15 players on the shelf.
One bright spot is that new dad Matthew Tkachuk is back and will play in the finale.
“Greatest day of my life,” Tkachuk said.
NOTES: RED WINGS AT PANTHERS
- Even though the Panthers look more like the Charlotte Checkers, they have not cashed out nor are they playing to lose to secure that top-10 draft pick (which goes to Chicago if it’s No. 11 or lower).
- From Detroit Hockey Now: After calling more than 3,000 Red Wings games, radio voice Paul Woods calls his final game tonight from Sunrise.
- Cole Reinhardt may be playing himself onto the 2026-27 Florida Panthers.
- How much money is out of the Panthers lineup right now? It is a lot.
- There are a lot of new Panthers out there. What numbers are they wearing — and who wore that number best in franchise history?
- Has Sergei Bobrovsky played his last game for the Panthers?
- If you have Comcast Xfinity cable, you will not have access to today’s game unless things change. Last Tuesday, the media giant knocked off all Scripps-owned stations nationwide — including in the middle of Florida’s 6-3 win against the Senators on April 1.
- Starting Goalies: The Panthers will have Daniil Tarasov back in net for his third straight start. John Gibson goes for the Red Wings.
- How to Watch/Stream: The Panthers are on local TV for the final time this season. It can be streamed locally on Panthers+ and nationally on ESPN+.
- NHL Betting Odds: The Red Wings are favorites today at -150 on the money line. If you think the Panthers will end on a three-game winning streak, a $100 bet pays $130.
ON DECK: GAME No. 82
DETROIT RED WINGS at FLORIDA PANTHERS
- When: Wednesday, 7 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 (West Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); WCZR 101.7-FM (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM
- Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL/Panthers App
- Local Betting Odds — Red Wings Favored: MoneyLine (-150); Puck Line -1.5 (+1240); O/U 6.5 (+100/-120)
- Last Season: Detroit won 2-1
- This Season (Panthers Lead 2-1) — At Detroit: Wings 4, Panthers 1 (Oct. 15); Panthers 3, Wings 1. At Florida: Panthers 4, Wings 3 (March 10); Wednesday
- All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 42-22-7, 5 ties
- Up Next for the Panthers: Season Complete; NHL Draft Lottery, May 5
PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS (39-38-4, 82) LINES
11 Mackie Samoskevich // 27 Eetu Luostarinen // 19 Matthew Tkachuk
32 Wilmer Skoog // 79 Cole Schwindt // 10 A.J. Greer
25 Nolan Foote // 18 Noah Gregor // 70 Jesper Boqvist
29 Cole Reinhardt // 71 Luke Kunin // 24 Vinnie Hinostroza
22 Toby Bjornfot // 20 Mike Benning
6 Donovan Sebrango // 54 Ludvig Jansson
4 Marek Alscher // 96 Mikulas Hovorka
40 Daniil Tarasov
72 Sergei Bobrovsky
Scratched: None
Injured: Tomas Nosek (fractured fibula), Gus Forsling (back), Carter Verhaeghe (lower body), Sam Bennett (lower body), Seth Jones (foot), Dmitry Kulikov (finger), Aaron Ekblad (hand), Evan Rodrigues (finger), Sam Reinhart (foot), Niko Mikkola (knee), Anton Lundell (ribs), Uvis Balinskis (fractured foot), Brad Marchand (lower body), Sasha Barkov (knee), Jonah Gadjovich (upper body)
PROJECTED DETROIT RED WINGS (41-30-10, 92) LINES
58 Emmitt Finnie // 71 Dylan Larkin // 23 Lucas Raymond
93 Alex DeBrincat // 18 Andrew Copp // 88 Patrick Kane
57 David Perron // 37 J.T. Compher // 43 Carter Mazur
21 James van Riemsdyk // 92 Marco Kasper // 28 Michael Brandsegg-Nygard
77 Simon Edvinsson // 53 Moritz Seider
8 Ben Chiarot // 72 Justin Faulk
20 Albert Johansson // 44 Axel Sandin-Pellikka
36 John Gibson
39 Cam Talbot
Scratched: Travis Hamonic, Dominik Shine, Jacob Bernard-Docker
Injured: Michael Rasmussen (lower body), Mason Appleton (upper body)