Panthers GameDay at Avalanche: How to Watch, Lines, Goalies, Odds

The Florida Panthers face perhaps their toughest test of the season tonight when they play the Colorado Avalanche at 9:30 on ESPN.

Although the Panthers have won three straight and have points in a season-high run of four games (3-0-1), Florida is facing a Colorado team in the lead for the top seed in the Western Conference as well as the NHL Presidents’ Trophy.

Colorado (21-2-7) has only lost one game in regulation since Oct. 25 — and that came last Thursday on Long Island.

As impressive as the Avalanche has been this season, it is only two points ahead of Dallas in the Central Division standings.

The Panthers visit the Stars on Saturday night.

Sam Bennett helped lead Florida to a 4-3 win over Utah on Wednesday night, scoring two goals with an assist.

In his past four games, Bennett has three goals and eight points.

Carter Verhaeghe has a four-game goal streak going, scoring five goals with seven points during that span.

Brad Marchand is the third member of this line — and he had a four-point night against the Blue Jackets which started Florida’s winning streak.

“I think we’ve just done a good job using our speed, getting hard on the forecheck, and then we were able to create some turnovers and get some scoring opportunities,’’ Bennett said after Wednesday’s win.

“It’s been awesome playing with those guys, it’s a lot of fun. They make some great plays, and they play hard. So, yeah, just enjoying it right now.”

NOTEBOOK: PANTHERS AT AVALANCHE

• Starting Goalies: Daniil Tarasov returns after a strong start Sunday against the Islanders where he picked up his third win of the season. Colorado will start Mackenzie Blackwood.
• How to Watch/Stream: The Panthers are on national TV tonight with the only broadcast on ESPN. The game cannot be streamed at Panthers+.
• NHL Betting Odds: The Avalanche are strong favorites (-250) on the money line at the local book. To win with the Avalanche, a $250 bet pays $100. If you bet the Panthers on the money line (+190), a $100 wager wins $190 if Florida pulls this out.

ON DECK: GAME No. 30

FLORIDA PANTHERS at COLORADO AVALANCHE 

• When: Thursday, 9:30 p.m.
• Where: Ball Arena, Denver
• National TV: ESPN
• National Streaming: ESPN+
• Radio: WQAM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Local Betting Odds — Avalanche Favored: MoneyLine (-250); Puck Line -1.5 (+100); O/U 6.5 (+100/-120)
• Last Season: Avalanche Won 2-0
• This Season — At Colorado: Thursday. At Florida: Jan. 4
• All-time Regular Season Series: Colorado leads 29-14-5, 3 ties
• Postseason Series: Colorado d. Florida 4-0, 1996 Stanley Cup Final
• Up Next for the Panthers: Saturday at Dallas Stars, 8 p.m.

PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS (15-12-2) LINES

27 Eetu Luostarinen // 15 Anton Lundell // 13 Sam Reinhart

23 Carter Verhaeghe // 9 Sam Bennett // 63 Brad Marchand 

10 A.J. Greer // 17 Evan Rodrigues // 11 Mackie Samoskevich

70 Jesper Boqvist // 53 Jack Studnicka // 18 Noah Gregor

42 Gus Forsling // 5 Aaron Ekblad

77 Niko Mikkola // 3 Seth Jones

26 Uvis Balinskis // 2 Jeff Petry

40 Daniil Tarasov

72 Sergei Bobrovsky

Scratched: Luke Kunin, Donovan Sebrango

Returned to Charlotte: Jack Devine

Injured: Sasha Barkov (knee), Matthew Tkachuk (lower body), Tomas Nosek (knee), Dmitry Kulikov (shoulder), Jonah Gadjovich (upper body), Cole Schwindt (broken arm)

PROJECTED COLORADO AVALANCHE (21-2-7) LINES

62 Artturi Lehkonen // 29 Nathan MacKinnon // 88 Martin Necas

92 Gabriel Landeskog // 11 Brock Nelson // 20 Ross Colton

13 Valeri Nichushkin // 18 Jack Drury // 95 Victor Olofsson

54 Gavin Brindley // 17 Parker Kelly // 94 Joel Kiviranta

7 Devon Toews // 8 Cale Makar

42 Josh Manson // 84 Brent Burns

49 Samuel Girard // 70 Sam Malinski

39 Mackenzie Blackwood

41 Scott Wedgewood

Scratched: Zakhar Bardakov, Ilya Solovyov

Injured: Logan O’Connor (hip surgery)