A tough test awaits the Florida Panthers as they continue their five-game homestand on Thursday.
Florida, fresh off a wild 8-5 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Monday, will welcome Nico Hischier and the New Jersey Devils to Sunrise.
The Devils are off to a hot start this season, jumping out to a strong 13-5-1 record.
This will be the second of three meetings between the Panthers and Devils this season.
New Jersey defeated the Cats 3-1 back on Oct. 16.
Despite Florida jumping out to an early 1-0 lead, the Devils clawed their way back on goals by Jack Hughes, Timo Meier and Hischier.
While the Devils are one of the league’s best teams on home ice so far this season – New Jersey is the only team in the NHL without a regulation loss at home – they’ve been much more average on the road.
Following Monday’s 5-1 loss in Tampa, the Devils are 6-5-0 on the road, which is nothing to sneeze at but pales in comparison to their 7-0-1 mark at Prudential Center.
Florida, similarly, has been quite good on home ice.
Their three-goal win over Vancouver earlier this week improved the Cats’ record at Amerant Bank Arena to 7-2-1.
Fueling Florida’s offense for much of this season has been Brad Marchand, and of late Sam Reinhart has also stepped up his game.
Marchand is currently riding an 11-game point streak during which he’s racked up an impressive 10 goals and 17 points.
Reinhart has three goals and eight points over a modest four-game point streak, but he’s also accumulated eight goals and 13 points over his past 11 outings.
The potent pair will certainly be trying to keep the good times rolling against the Devils, knowing that Florida will be entering the game as shorthanded as they’ve been all season.
Joining the team’s already extensive injured list this week were Eetu Luostarinen and Cole Schwindt, which caused the Cats to call up promising young forward Jack Devine from the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers.
Devine will make his NHL debut on Thursday.
Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Thursday’s battle with the Canucks:
Mackie Samoskevich – Anton Lundell – Brad Marchand
Jesper Boqvist – Evan Rodrigues – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – A.J. Greer
Noah Gregor – Luke Kunin – Jack Devine
Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones
Uvis Balinskis – Jeff Petry
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Photo caption: Nov 1, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett (9) celebrates with teammates after scoring against the Dallas Stars during the third period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)