One of the biggest challenges of the season awaits the Florida Panthers on Thursday night.
Fresh off an exhilarating, last-minute victory over the Utah Mammoth on Wednesday, the Panthers will complete a back-to-back set when they face off against the NHL-best Colorado Avalanche.
Florida will be searching for a season-high fourth straight victory and are attempting to turn a corner toward positivity following a tough start to their season.
That’s not terribly surprising considering the injury issues that Florida has had to endure.
The Panthers just got forward Eetu Luostarinen back in the lineup over the past week but have still yet to see Sasha Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk or Tomas Nosek this season and have lost Dmitry Kulikov, Jonah Gadjovich and Cole Schwindt to in-season injuries they have yet to return from.
Still, despite all that, the Cats are giving off some strong vibes lately, picking up wins over the Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Islanders and Mammoth over the past few days.
Now, though, Florida will face a team in the Avalanche who have lost just twice in regulation all season.
Colorado is an eye-popping 21-2-7, with their 49 points keeping them perched high atop the rest of the NHL.
To put that into perspective, no team in the Eastern Conference has even cracked 40 points yet.
As for the Panthers, their recent surge has moved them past Toronto, Columbus and the Ottawa Senators in the standings.
Entering play Thursday, Florida still remains three points behind the Philadelphia Flyers for the final Wild Card spot and four points back of the Boston Bruins for third place in the Atlantic Division.
With so much of the season still in front of them, the Panthers have plenty of time to climb back into a playoff spot.
A good showing against Colorado and a strong showing on their road trip will go a long way toward continuing that mission as Florida moves closer to the holidays.
Goaltending-wise, the Cats are expected to roll with Daniil Tarasov against the Avs after Sergei Bobrovsky played stellar while picking up the win over Utah the night before.
Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Thursday’s tilt with the Avalanche:
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Brad Marchand
Mackie Samoskevich – Evan Rodrigues – A.J. Greer
Noah Gregor – Jack Stucnicka – Jesper Boqvist
Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones
Uvis Balinskis – Jeff Petry
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Photo caption: Dec 10, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; The Florida Panthers celebrate a win over the Utah Mammoth after the game at Delta Center. (Rob Gray-Imagn Images)
The Detroit Red Wings seem to be coming back to life after winning their third straight game on Wednesday in a road clash versus the Calgary Flames, where they were sensational to start the game but limped to the finish line in the final period before walking away with the 4-3 victory. It extended the team's winning streak to six games as they look to make it seven in the team's toughest stop of the road trip in Edmonton to take on the Oilers.
Not to mention, it'll be the second leg of a back-to-back which should make it even more challenging for the Wings. You can truly never count out the Oilers thanks to their superstars in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl as they proved that once again when facing off against the Buffalo Sabres Tuesday night when McDavid orchestrated a late comeback with a tying goal in the final seconds. If the Red Wings hope to keep their hot streak alive, they'll need to come together for a complete performance from start to finish, which has been hard for them lately. The Oilers will look to make up for a 4-2 loss to the Red Wings earlier this season in a memorable game which rookie Emmitt Finnie scored his first NHL goal.
Detroit’s win on Wednesday again flipped the narrative, as the Red Wings finally started to get the depth scoring they had been missing. Andrew Copp, who had struggled for much of the season, delivered what was likely his best performance yet.
The Michigan native recorded two assists on his new line with Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane, a combination that has recently begun to find its rhythm. Copp also made several strong defensive plays late in the game. This momentum did not extend to the rest of the team, as Detroit’s defense began to unravel in the final minutes. A shorthanded penalty shot added to the frustration, and despite the Flames picking up speed, the Red Wings offered little resistance.
Rookie Emmitt Finnie gets his first career NHL Goal on the rebound 🚨🔥 pic.twitter.com/BGg2v3bKDY
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 19, 2025
Goaltender John Gibson did everything he could and has looked much more like the player Detroit expected when they acquired him. Filling in for Gibson will be former Oilers goaltender Cam Talbot, who has started to slow down with his play as of late but has great career numbers going against the team he played for from 2015 to 2019.
Detroit will need a stronger defensive effort on Thursday if they hope to slow down Connor McDavid. The offense has little reason for concern as the current lineup continues to find ways to score, and the second line broke out in a big way on Wednesday by scoring three of Detroit’s four goals. With contributions coming from throughout the roster, the top unit with Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond no longer has to shoulder all of the pressure and can afford an occasional quiet night.
For the Oilers, the same long-standing issues continue to haunt them, particularly in goal and on the back end. Edmonton has given up the fourth-most goals in the league this season with 104 against, and their goals against per game sits at 3.47 through 30 games, the fifth-worst mark in the NHL. Their offense is still keeping them competitive, as they hold the seventh-best goals per game average at 3.30, but they often struggle to keep pace in high-scoring games and frequently come out on the losing end.
Tuesday’s loss to Buffalo was a prime example as McDavid played hero in the final seconds to force overtime, but the Oilers quickly surrendered the winner to Alex Tuch only 33 seconds into the extra period. If Detroit hopes to come away with another victory, they will need to push the pace offensively and stay aggressive. Scoring early and keeping pressure on Edmonton will be crucial, especially since the Oilers have won four of their last seven games and are always one burst away from catching up. Detroit executed this approach well on Wednesday in Calgary, and a similar effort will be needed again.
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Detroit: Cam Talbot (Season: 9-4-2 record, 3.01 GAA, .883 SV% | VS EDM: 4-2-2 record, 2.05 GAA, .934 SV% in nine games)
Edmonton: Stuart Skinner (Season: 10-8-4 record, 2.91 GAA, .886 SV% | VS DET: 1-2-1 record, 2.96 GAA, .911 SV% in four games)
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