Florida Panthers to have two nationally televised games, five on ESPN+

The NHL released its national television schedule Wednesday and the defending Presidents’ Trophy-winning Florida Panthers will be on national television twice during the 2021-22 season.

Florida will have two games aired on TNT — its home opener on Oct. 19 against the Philadelphia Flyers and Dec. 21 against the New Jersey Devils — and five games exclusive to ESPN+ and Hulu.

The Panthers will not have any regular season games televised on ESPN or ABC this season.

At least not yet.

Last year, Florida was left off of the national TV slate entirely but had some of their games added later in the season after a hot start.

That included a Feb. 16 matchup with the Carolina Hurricanes that was flexed to TNT after a COVID-19 outbreak postponed games before the NHL’s holiday break in December.

With COVID restrictions easing up, that probably won’t happen again.

With the current layout of games, seven will have a national broadcast crew while 75 will be broadcasted by Steve Goldstein, Randy Moller, Jessica Blaylock and the rest of the Bally Sports Florida crew.

The All-Star Game and Skills Competition, which the Panthers are hosting, will be broadcast on ABC and ESPN+ on Feb 3-4.

All out-of-market NHL games will be included with an ESPN+ subscription for customers in the United States for a second straight season. Customers in Canada can get out-of-market games with a Sportsnet NOW Premium membership.

ESPN will broadcast 103 exclusive games during the 2022-23 season while Turner will have a 62-game slate, pending any games getting flexed to national television.

In addition to the national television slate, the NHL made some changes to start times around the league. Nine Panthers games were impacted by the changes.

Those games are Oct. 21 vs Tampa Bay (7:30 p.m.), Oct. 25 at Chicago (8:30 p.m.), Nov. 26 vs. St. Louis (6:30 p.m.), Dec. 8 vs. Detroit (7:30 p.m.), Dec. 10 at Tampa Bay (4:30 p.m.), Dec 17 at New Jersey (7:30 p.m.), Dec. 30 at Carolina (7:30 p.m.), Jan. 8 at Dallas (3:30 p.m.), and March 18 vs. New Jersey (6 p.m.).

National TV/ESPN+ Exclusive Games

Oct. 19 — Philadelphia Flyers at Florida Panthers (TNT, 7:30 p.m.)

Oct. 21 — Tampa Bay Lightning at Florida Panthers (ESPN+, 7:30 p.m.)

Nov. 3 — Florida Panthers at San Jose Sharks (ESPN+, 10:30 p.m.)

Dec. 8 — Detroit Red Wings at Florida Panthers (ESPN+, 7:30 p.m.)

Dec. 13 — Columbus Blue Jackets at Florida Panthers (ESPN+, 7 p.m.)

Dec. 21 — New Jersey Devils at Florida Panthers (TNT, 7 p.m.)

Dec. 30 — Florida Panthers at Carolina Hurricanes (ESPN+, 7:30 p.m.)

*All times are Eastern Standard TIme.