George Richards, FHN Publisher
Looks like the Florida Panthers will look a lot like themselves tonight when they visit the Edmonton Oilers in a rematch of the past two Stanley Cup Finals.
After giving veteran players the night off in previous games, Paul Maurice is loading his lineup up with all healthy regulars going tonight in Edmonton.
“I think the juice is going to be there for both teams tonight,” Maurice said after Thursday’s morning skate.
The Panthers come into the game a mile out of playoff contention with lopsided (11-4) losses in the first two games of this road trip at Seattle and Vancouver.
Playing Edmonton, the team that Florida beat in the Stanley Cup Final the past two summers, should bring out some fight in the Panthers tonight.
At least that is the hope.
“We have a certain expectation here, a culture set,” Matthew Tkachuk said. “You have to get fired up for these games. It’s hard not to get fired up for this one, right? It’s a team we have played the past two years and we have created something here we don’t want to ruin just by not having our best year.
“We’re all grinding through this together.’’
NOTES: PANTHERS at OILERS
- Starting Goalies: The Panthers will have Sergei Bobrovsky in net tonight with Daniil Tarasov likely going Friday in Calgary. Bobrovsky has gone 8-5 against the Oilers over the past two posteasons. Connor Ingram continues to start for the Oilers.
- How to Watch/Stream: The Panthers remain on local television tonight. You can stream the game on Panthers+ locally and ESPN+ outside the South Florida market.
- NHL Betting Odds: The Oilers are favorites (-150) on the money line at the local book. If you think the Panthers will pull it off, a $100 wager is worth $130 if they do.
ON DECK: GAME No. 68
FLORIDA PANTHERS at EDMONTON OILERS
- When: Thursday, 9 p.m.
- Where: Rogers Place, Edmonton
- Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FTL); WPTV 5/WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
- Local Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+
- Radio: WQAM; WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys), SiriusXM
- Radio Streaming: SiriusXM, NHL App
- Local Betting Odds — Oilers Favored: MoneyLine (-150); Puck Line -1.5 (+140); O/U 6.5 (-120/+100)
- Postseason History (Panthers Lead 2-0): Florida Won 2024 Stanley Cup Final 4-3; Florida Won 2025 Stanley Cup Final 4-2
- Last Regular Season: Panthers won 2-0
- This Season (Oilers Lead 1-0) — At Florida: Oilers 6, Panthers 3 (Nov. 22). At Edmonton: March 19
- All-time Regular Season Series: Oilers lead 24-18-0, 3 ties
- Up Next for the Panthers: Friday at Calgary Flames, 9 p.m.
PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS (33-31-3) LINES
23 Carter Verhaeghe // 9 Sam Bennett // 19 Matthew Tkachuk
27 Eetu Luostarinen // 15 Anton Lundell // 70 Jesper Boqvist
10 A.J. Greer // 17 Evan Rodrigues // 11 Mackie Samoskevich
29 Cole Reinhardt // 92 Tomas Nosek // 71 Luke Kunin
42 Gus Forsling // 5 Aaron Ekblad
77 Niko Mikkola // 3 Seth Jones
7 Dmitry Kulikov // 20 Mike Benning
72 Sergei Bobrovsky
40 Daniil Tarasov
Scratched: Nolan Foote, Vinnie Hinostroza, Donovan Sebrango
Injured: Sam Reinhart (undisclosed), Uvis Balinskis (lower body), Brad Marchand (lower body), Sasha Barkov (knee), Jonah Gadjovich (upper body)
PROJECTED EDMONTON OILERS (34-26-9) LINES
92 Vasily Podkolzin // 97 Connor McDavid // 22 Matthew Savoie
18 Zach Hyman // 93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins // 28 Jack Roslovic
81 Josh Samanski // 16 Jason Dickinson // 15 Roby Jarventie
46 Max Jones // 19 Adam Henrique // 10 Trent Frederic
14 Mattias Ekholm // 2 Evan Bouchard
25 Darnell Nurse // 5 Connor Murphy
96 Jake Walman // 24 Spencer Stastney
39 Connor Ingram
35 Tristan Jarry
Scratched: Kasperi Kapanen
Injured: Colton Dach (undisclosed), Leon Draisaitl (lower body), Ty Emberson (undisclosed), Mattias Janmark (shoulder), Curtis Lazar (undisclosed)