Panthers seek crucial win in Montreal after tough loss, battling for playoff positioning and facing questions about star player's availability.
The Florida Panthers will look to bounce back from a rough start to their season-long road trip when they suit up on Thursday night in Montreal.
Fresh off a frustrating 4-1 defeat in Toronto two nights ago, the Panthers will try to avoid losing more ground in the Atlantic Division when they face the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Center.
Entering play Thursday, Florida holds 47 points, which put them two points back of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the final Wild Card spot and seven points behind Montreal and Detroit, who sit in second and third in the division with 54 points apiece.
The Cats received a bit of a scare on Tuesday when star forward and leading scorer Brad Marchand did not finish the game against the Maple Leafs.
After playing the first two periods, Marchand did not come out for the third, leading to speculation and fear from fans that he would join Florida’s extended list of injured players.
Fortunately, Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice said after the game that the decision to hold Marchand out of the final frame was his, not medical staff, adding that Marchand had been battling an injury and he help him out to keep it from getting any worse.
Will that injury keep Marchand out on Thursday in Montreal? The hope is that it will not, but we won’t know for sure until after Florida’s morning skate.
It’s an optional skate, so judging by the attendance on the ice won’t be a solid metric. We’ll have to see what Maurice says when he addresses the media afterwards.
As for the Canadiens, they will be playing on the second night of a back-to-back after defeating Calgary 4-1 on Wednesday.
The win was Montreal’s fourth in five games. They’ve gone 9-2-3 since early December, taking them from two points out of a playoff spot to second place in the division and six points clear of Buffalo, the first team out of the playoffs.
Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Thursday’s matchup with Montreal:
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Brad Marchand
Mackie Samoskevich – Evan Rodrigues – A.J. Greer
Jesper Boqvist – Luke Kunin – Jack Studnicka
Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Uvis Balinskis
Donovan Sebrango – Jeff Petry
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Photo caption: Dec 30, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Montreal Canadiens right wing Brendan Gallagher (11) moves the puck against d71 during the first period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)