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The Florida Panthers had much to celebrate as they kicked off the 2025-26 NHL season. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

Panthers Win a Wild Game Against the Canucks

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Lukas Bernasiewicz | Last updated Nov 17, 2025 10:15 PM ET

With most teams hitting the quarter mark of the season, the Vancouver Canucks and Florida Panthers squared off on Monday Night, with both teams seeking a win. They entered this game with nearly identical records, with the Panthers having one fewer loss than the Canucks, and both teams being in sixth place in their respective divisions. Jiri Patera suited up for his first game as Vancouver’s starting goaltender, and Sergei Bobrovsky maintained the crease for Florida.

Recap

Early in the first period, Florida looked to have the advantage as they began to take the early edge in shots. An early power play helped the Panthers look like the stronger team, but the Canucks were able to survive the hot start by Florida. Both teams traded chances until the Canucks opened the scoring with around five minutes left in the period.

Tyler Myers fired a puck in near the point, and Drew O’Connor tried to grab the rebound out in front. He wasn’t able to cleanly grab the puck in a dangerous spot, and it looked like Bobrovsky was going to cover up the puck, but he misplayed the rebound, and O’Connor had a wide-open net to put the Canucks up 1-0.

Shortly after going up 1-0, Vancouver was given a power play, and they looked to double their lead. Kiefer Sherwood grabbed the puck in the left corner and sent it to Jake DeBrusk for a tap-in to bring the score to 2-0 Canucks. But, after the Canucks doubled their lead, the Panthers answered right back with a beautiful passing play finished off by A.J. Greer to cut the Canucks lead in half. Then, near the end of the period, Vancouver took a penalty to put Florida on the man advantage. The Panthers converted on their power play with a goal by Seth Jones to tie the game and send both teams into the locker room with a 2-2 score.

Early in the second period, the Panthers gained their first lead of the game with a goal by Luke Kunin. Noah Gregor skated through the Canucks defence and put a backhand on net. Patera started flopping all over his crease, and the rebound came right to Kunin with a wide-open net to give the Panthers the 3-2 lead. Nearly four minutes after taking the lead, Sam Reinhart sent a beautiful no-look pass to Evan Rodrigues, and he scored to grow the Panthers’ lead to 4-2.

Over a minute later, the Panthers added to their lead and went up 5-2. Brad Marchand set up Anton Lundell with a wonderful pass, and Lundell placed his shot perfectly to go up by three goals. Thirty-eight seconds later, Vancouver got a goal back to cut the lead to two. Quinn Hughes broke out on a 3-on-1, and he sent the puck to Evander Kane, who sent the puck to an open Elias Pettersson, and the Canucks cut the lead to 5-3. After a wild second period with four goals just like the first, the game died down, and the intermission saw Florida with a 5-3 lead.

Near the start of the third period, Vancouver pulled to within one goal. Sherwood sent the puck to Pettersson who roofed a backhand past Bobrovsky, making the score 5-4. Two minutes after the Pettersson goal, the Canucks were given a power play, and Max Sasson sent an amazing pass to Filip Hronek for a tap-in goal to tie the game 5-5. Although a great comeback by Vancouver, Florida went back to work and answered quickly with a shot by Niko Mikkola that was tipped in by Sam Bennett to give the Panthers a 6-5 lead. Florida was awarded another power play after the Bennett goal, and Reinhart set up Seth Jones for another goal to make the score 7-5 Panthers. Marchand added an empty-net goal for Florida to lock up an 8-5 win for the Panthers.

The Canucks next game will be at home on Thursday against the Dallas Stars as they look to bounce back, and the Panthers will host the Devils in their next game, looking to continue their winning ways.