It was a fun Thursday night at the local hockey barn in Sunrise.
Playing their first home game in several weeks, the Florida Panthers put up a six-spot on the Washington Capitals, skating to a resounding 6-3 win on a night full of milestones.
Usually, when a team returns from a long road trip, the first game on home ice can be a difficult one to win.
Despite Florida falling behind during the first period, they were quick to bounce back, and once they did, they never looked back.
It was a great way for the Cats to kick off their extended stretch in South Florida, where they will play 11 of 12 at Amerant Bank Arena over the next few weeks.
Let’s get to Thursday’s takeaways:
POWER PLAY HEATING UP
When the Panthers wrapped up their recent road trip with a big victory in Las Vegas, it was a power play goal by Sam Reinhart that served as the game-winner.
Afterwards, Maurice said that it was an important goal for the power play, as the unit could use some good fortune to hopefully get it going.
Well, for at least one more game, the Cats are in fact building on their success.
They scored twice more on the man advantage during Thursday’s win over the Capitals, logging eight shots while on the power play.
“The last couple of games look quite a bit different,” said Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice. “It feels different. It's faster, and because it's faster, there's more options, so we're working off both sides. It's trending in the right way.”
FIRST WIN FOR TARASOV
It took a few starts, but Florida’s new goaltender Daniil Tarasov finally picked up his first victory in a Panthers sweater.
And boy, did he earn it.
Tarasov finished the game with 37 saves, including on 10 of the whopping 12 high danger shots sent his way by the Capitals.
It also helps that Florida scored as many goals for Tarasov on Thursday (6) that they had in his previous four starts combined.
“I think that could be a really good thing for him, right? The adversity that you face, having to grind, winning against a real good team on a big shot night, so he didn't luck into it. It’s the first night we scored some goals for him, so we think there's more wins in him.”
A NIGHT OF MILESTONES
Brad Marchand wasn’t Florida’s only player to reach a significant milestone on Thursday night.
In addition to Marchand logging his 1,000th NHL point and Tarasov picking up his first win, Seth Jones scored his 100th goal, Evan Rodrigues scored his 100th goal and Gus Forsling picked up his 200th NHL point.
To say there was a lot of noise coming from Florida’s locker room after the game ended would be a gross understatement.
“There's a bigger cheer (after the game), everybody gets to celebrate it together on a win,” Maurice said. “I guess if you have that many guys have milestones, you're probably going to win the game.”
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Photo caption: Nov 13, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers players celebrate in center ice the 1000th career point by Florida Panthers left wing Brad Marchand (63) against the Washington Capitals during the third period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)