Panthers Will Look To Get Special Teams Going As Season Opening Road Trip Concludes In Los Angeles

The Florida Panthers will play in their fourth straight home opener on Tuesday night.

Florida’s season-opening four-game road trip will come to an end, finally, when they visit the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena.

Through their first two road games, the Kings have had a hard time keeping the puck out of the net this season.

While it’s a good thing to have scored eight goals in only two games, the Kings have also been outscored by five despite the offensive output.

They’ll turn back to Darcy Kuemper between the pipes on Thursday, giving him a chance to bounce back after an extremely forgettable Opening Night in Colorado.

Kuemper surrendered seven goals to the Avalanche on just 29 shots last Wednesday night, so he’ll certainly be looking to rebound and get his season off on the right track.

Florida, meanwhile, leads all NHL teams that have played at least three games by allowing only one goal at 5-on-5.

They’ve allowed four goals while shorthanded, with a paltry 71.4% success rate on their penalty kill so far on 14 attempts. Clearly that is an area they’ll look to clean up, starting in Los Angeles.

For those who may be wondering, the Kings have gone 2-for-7 on the power play so far this season, good for a 28.6% success rate, ranking them ninth in the league. Florida sits in 22nd with just one power play goal in 17 attempts.

The only teams below the Panthers are ones who have yet to score a power play goal this season.

Florida won both games against the Kings last season, including a 5-2 victory in Los Angeles last November.

Brad Marchand scored twice that night, while Niko Mikkola added a pair of assists in the win.

Both will be counted on for Florida in their return to LA.

Marchand is coming off his regular season debut on Sunday in Anaheim, a game in which he was critical of himself despite scoring a game-tying goal late in the third period.

Mikkola, who will be skating in his 400th NHL game on Tuesday, has yet to find the scoresheet this season, but he and defensive partner Seth Jones have provided excellent shutdown defense at even strength so far this season.

Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Tuesday’s tilt with the Kings:

Brady Tkachuk – Sam Reinhart – Brad Marchand

Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk

Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Sandis Vilmanis

Boko Imama – Lars Eller – Garnet Hathaway

Gus Forsling – Dmitry Kulikov

Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones

Uvis Balinskis – Radko Gudas

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Photo caption: Sep 29, 2026; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA;FloridaPanthersleft wing Brady Tkachuk (8) passes during the second period against the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center. (James Guillory-Imagn Images)