Can the Panthers conquer their recent Chicago struggles and finish off a perfect road trip with a freshly bolstered lineup?
The Florida Panthers are continuing their chilly road trip in another place they have struggled in recent years.
On Thursday, the Panthers picked up a gritty 2-1 shootout win over the Winnipeg Jets. It was Florida’s first win in Winnipeg under Head Coach Paul Maurice, who is in his fourth season behind the Cats’ bench.
Florida has had similar results when visiting the Chicago Blackhawks.
Under Maurice, Florida has lost three straight games in the Windy City by a combined score of 12-5.
We’ll see if the Cats can exorcise their recent demons in Chi-town and continue a recent run of strong play.
Overall, Florida arrives in Chicago with wins in five of their past seven
The interesting thing about those five wins is that they all came on the road.
It’s also worth noting that the Panthers are as healthy at forward as they’ve been all season.
Both Matthew Tkachuk and Brad Marchand have joined Florida’s lineup over the past week, each having an instant impact on Florida’s ability to earn victories.
Tkachuk has picked up three points over his past two games, including a pair of primary helpers, while Marchand logged two goals and an assist, including the overtime winner, Saturday night in Minnesota.
Now Florida will try to wrap up a perfect road trip and pick up a third win in four nights when they face the Blackhawks.
Similarly to the Panthers, Chicago is scratching for every point they can get in order to keep pace in a busy playoff race.
Both teams are five points behind the second Wild Card spot in their respective conference, but while Florida has two games in hand and only one team to climb over, the Blackhawks have played one more game than San Jose and have three other teams they’d need to leapfrog.
Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Saturday’s battle with the Blackhawks:
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Brad Marchand
A.J. Greer – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Carter Verhaeghe – Evan Rodrigues – Sam Reinhart
Sandis Vilmanis – Luke Kunin – Mackie Samoskevich
Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Uvis Balinskis
Tobias Bjornfot – Jeff Petry
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Photo caption: Jan 22, 2026; Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN; Florida Panthers players celebrate their victory over the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre. (James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images)