One of the biggest challenges of the season awaits the Florida Panthers on Thursday night.
After an exciting last-minute win over the Utah Mammoth on Wednesday, the Panthers will complete a back-to-back set when they take on the NHL’s top-ranked Colorado Avalanche.
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Florida will be looking for a season-high fourth straight victory and looking to turn a corner toward positivity after a rough start to the season.
This isn’t really surprising considering the injury issues Florida has had to endure.
The Panthers just got forward Eetu Luostarinen back in the lineup last week, but still haven’t seen Sasha Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk or Tomas Nosek this season and lost Dmitry Kulikov, Jonah Gadjovich and Cole Schwindt to in-season injuries from which they have yet to return.
Yet despite all that, the Cats are giving off strong vibes as of late, picking up wins over the Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Islanders and Mammoth in recent days.
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Now, however, Florida will face an Avalanche team that has lost just twice in regulation all season.
Colorado has a stunning 21-2-7 record, with its 49 points keeping it atop the rest of the NHL.
To put that into perspective, no team in the Eastern Conference has scored 40 points yet.
As for the Panthers, their recent surge has them overtaking Toronto, Columbus and the Ottawa Senators in the standings.
Entering play on Thursday, Florida still remains three points behind the Philadelphia Flyers for the final Wild Card spot and four points behind the Boston Bruins for third place in the Atlantic Division.
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With much of the season ahead of them, the Panthers have plenty of time to climb back toward a playoff spot.
A good showing against Colorado and a good showing on their road trip will go a long way in continuing that mission as Florida gets closer to the holidays.
From a goaltending standpoint, the Cats should roll with Daniil Tarasov against the Avs after Sergei Bobrovsky played a standout role while earning a win over Utah the night before.
Here are the Panthers’ projected lines and pairs for Thursday’s game against the Avalanche:
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Brad Marchand
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Mackie Samoskevitch – Evan Rodrigues – AJ 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: December 10, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, United States; The Florida Panthers celebrate a victory over the Utah Mammoth after the game at Delta Center. (Rob Gray-Imagn Images)
