3 Takeaways From Florida’s Home Opener 10/07/2025

There were lots of emotions to start the season for the Panthers as they started the season once again with a banner-raising ceremony. Also, just like last year, Florida walked away with a win on banner night as they defeated the Chicago Blackhawks. The injured Cats made an appearance on the bench to watch the new championship banner rise while their teammates stood arm in arm on the ice. With both Barkov and Tkachuk unavailable, it was Florida’s last remaining alternate captain, Aaron Ekblad, who skated the Stanley Cup out before the banner was unveiled. Despite it being a tight match, there were all the hallmarks of Florida Panther hockey on the ice: hard forechecking, response goals, fighting, and stout defense. 

Started Strong:

Despite not playing much during the preseason, Florida’s starters looked good in the opening period. The newly assembled Verhaeghe-Bennett-Marchand line, I expect, will click together in short order, and Luostarinenn-Lundell-Reinhart has been a tried and true line that HC Paul Maurice frequently returns to when Barkov is out of the lineup. Florida dominated the first period, especially after surrendering the first goal to Chicago off a Nazar breakaway.

A power-play goal from Verhaeghe put the Cats up 2-1 heading out of the first period. It was a great shot by Carter that he put in far side off the post and in. After the regular season scoring struggles he had last year, it’s good news to see him get one in game 1 of the season. With the big-name players being injured. He looked like a man possessed as he could’ve had two or three on the night, but huge saves by Knight denied him. The Panthers ended the period with a 17-3 SOG and 18-8 faceoff win advantage. 

Depth Standouts:

It was a big night for the Florida depth players. A.J. Greer tied the game up just over a minute after Nazar opened the scoring. He was deep in the zone and was able to evade Blackhawk defenders, allowing him to be all alone in front of the net. Greer made a nice little move around Knight and got the Panthers’ first goal of the season; Forsling and Gadjovich got the assists. He dropped gloves with Folingo toward the end of the first period which earned him a fighting penalty. Greer was awarded third-star honors. Mackie Samoskevich had a strong first game in his second NHL season, where he tallied two primary assists on the Verhaeghe goal and the Boqvist game-winner.

Although Mackie is on the third line at the moment, he is getting time on Florida’s power play, something he excelled at last season. Midway through the third, it was Jesper Boqvist who broke the 2-2 tie. Rodrigues got the puck up the ice to Samoskevich, who made a play deep in the zone, getting the puck up in the air. Jesper then batted the puck out of mid-air and behind Knight for the game-winner. It was a big night for Florida’s depth as the third and fourth lines had solid outings in their debut. Kunin had a couple of chances himself that Knight saved. In his post-game interview, Marchand spoke about the depth, saying, “That’s why we’re so good, we rely on everybody.” Paul Maurice said after the game, “The important part is we had Boqvist and Greer score. We’re going to need other people to fill in for some goals.” 

Injury Bug Hanging Around:

The injury bug hasn’t left South Florida yet as the Cats had some close calls tonight. Reinhart took a deflected puck to the face that required him to go and get stitched up in the dressing room. A big worry came when Evan Rodrigues went down after video replay revealed that a puck hit him right in the knee. He thankfully wasn’t off the ice for very long and returned to the game before the period had ended.

Lundell had a close call with a puck that nearly hit him in the face just under the visor. But he didn’t have to leave the bench. A knee-on-knee contact took Greer down in the third period, but thankfully didn’t cause him to leave the game. He went to the bench and was able to stretch things out and continue. More close calls than Panthers fans would like to be frank, while they have great depth, they could be in some serious trouble if another big-name player goes down. Overall, it was a successful start to the season. The new banner has been raised, and Florida got the first two points of the year.