Panthers Winter Classic GameDay v Rangers: How to Watch, Lines

MIAMI — Well, after years of speculation and months of anticipation, the NHL Winter Classic at LoanDepot Park is finally upon us with the Florida Panthers and New York Rangers dropping the puck sometime around 8 p.m.

With temperatures in the 60s — and most importantly, zero chance of rain — both the retractable roof and sliding windows on the east side of the ballpark will be wide open for the game.

Both teams are looking for a win tonight as Alan Greenberg documented earlier today with Paul Maurice still a little salty after his Panthers coughed up a 2-0 lead to the Montreal Canadiens in the final 5 minutes Tuesday and lost 3-2 in overtime.

The Rangers are all kinds of beat up and lost 6-3 to the Capitals on New Year’s Eve.

Anyway, for those of you coming down to the ballpark today, have a good time.

We told you this would be awesome way back when.

The NHL fan fest on the west side of the stadium opens at 2 with ballpark gates opening at 6.

You can cheer on the Rangers and Panthers as they arrive off on NW 6^th St. between 14-16^th Aves. between 4:45-5:15.

WINTER CLASSIC NOTES: PANTHERS V RANGERS

• Parking: The Marlins say all parking in the four garages is sold out, but signs outside the garage say $50. You have to use their parking app in the garages. Or, just park on someone’s lawn and enjoy the neighborhood. You might even get a free coffee.
• FanFest: Opening at 2 p.m. on the west side of the ballpark on the old Orange Bowl ballfield, admission is free with a ticket. And that’s the only way you can get in.
• Tickets: Officially sold out.
• Gates open at the park at 6 p.m.; first pitch scheduled after 8.
• Starting Goalies: Sergei Bobrovsky will be back for the Panthers and gets his second Winter Classic start. Bobrovsky’s first came back in 2012 while with the Flyers at Citizens Bank Park. The Rangers (5-0 outdoors) go with Igor Shesterkin.
• How to Watch/Stream: The Panthers will be on national television today with the TNT crew in town for the game. If you want to stream it, go to HBO Max.
• NHL Betting Odds: The Panthers are a slight favorite (-145) on the money line. To win with the Panthers,  a $145 bet wins $100.

ON DECK: GAME No. 40

THE 2026 NHL WINTER CLASSIC

NEW YORK RANGERS at FLORIDA PANTHERS

• When: Friday; 8 p.m.
• Where: LoanDepot Park, Miami
• National TV: TNT/truTV (US); Sportsnet/TVA (Canada)
• Streaming: HBO Max
• Radio: WQAM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 931 or 932, NHL App
• Local Betting Odds — Panthers Favored: MoneyLine (-145); Puck Line -1.5 (+160); O/U 5.5 (-115/-105)
• Last Season vs. Rangers: Panthers Won 2-1
• This Season vs. Rangers — At Panthers: Winter Classic; April 13. At Rangers: March 29.
• All-time Regular Season Series: Rangers lead 62-36-8, 6 ties
• Postseason History: Rangers won 4-1 (1997, 1st round); Panthers won 4-2 (2024 ECF)
• Up Next for the Panthers: Sunday vs. Colorado Avalanche, 5 p.m.

PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS (21-15-3) LINES

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

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

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

71 Luke Kunin // 53 Jack Studnicka // 70 Jesper Boqvist

42 Gus Forsling // 5 Aaron Ekblad

77 Niko Mikkola // 3 Seth Jones

26 Uvis Balinskis // 2 Jeff Petry

72 Sergei Bobrovsky

40 Daniil Tarasov

Scratched: Donovan Sebrango, Noah Gregor

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

PROJECTED NEW YORK RANGERS (19-18-5) LINES

10 Artemi Panarin // 93 Mika Zibanejad // 50 Will Cuylle

94 Gabe Perreault // 16 Vincent Trocheck // 13 Alexis Lafreniere

22 Jonny Brodzinski // 37 Justin Dowling // 14 Taylor Raddysh

65 Breet Berard // 39 Sam Carrick // 73 Matt Rempe

44 Vladislav Gavrikov // 23 Adam Fox

24 Carson Soucy // 17 Will Borgen

29 Matthew Robertson // 4 Braden Schneider

31 Igor Shesterkin

32 Jonathan Quick

Scratched: Urho Vaakanainen, Scott Morrow, Anton Blidh

Injured: Adam Edstrom (lower body), J.T. Miller (upper body), Noah Laba (upper body), Conor Sheary (lower body)