SUNRISE, Fla. – The Florida Panthers will look to carry their strong play from the road back to their own barn when they host the Utah Mammoth at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET.
Sweeping a three-game road trip that took them through Winnipeg, Minnesota and Chicago, the Panthers enter tonight’s tilt at 28-20-3 and just four points behind the Boston Bruins for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with two games in hand.
At home this season, Florida boasts a 14-10-3 record.
“Every chance you get to play in front of your own fans, it’s a little bit of an extra spark,” forward Cole Schwindt said following this morning’s skate. “We’re excited for tonight.”
With both Brad Marchand and Matthew Tkachuk back to full health and in the lineup together for the first time this season, the Panthers were strong at both ends on the road.
Over the course of their 3-0-0 trip, 13 different Panthers recorded at least one point, including a team-high four (1G, 3A) from Carter Verhaeghe. Heating up in 2026, Verhaeghe paces the team in scoring with 12 points (4G, 8A) in 12 games dating back to Jan. 1.
Also chipping in Marchand and Tkachuk combined for 6 points (3G, 3A) on the trip.
“He’s very effective,” Schwindt said of Verhaeghe, who's one of the NHL’s few active three-time Stanley Cup champions. “Obviously, his track is there, and you can see it. The pedigree that he has going through the playoffs and the player that he’s been, he’s really important.”
Tied for fourth in the NHL with 20 wins, Sergei Bobrovsky will get the nod in net against the Mammoth. Stellar in an albeit small sample size against Utah, the two-time Vezina Trophy winer has gone 3-0-0 with a .929 save percentage in three career head-to-head matchups.
Hitting a milestone, A.J. Greer will skate in his 300th NHL game tonight.
“It’s always a privilege,” said Greer, who’s reached new career-highs in goals (10) and points (19) this season. “It reminds you of all the hard work and all the sacrifices you’ve put in. It’s an honor to be able to play 300 games in this league and chase even more. It’s an important milestone. It keeps you grounded and makes you appreciate all the things that you do.”
Holding the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference with a record of 27-21-4, the Mammoth have gone 8-1-1 in their last 10 games, but enter tonight’s matchup looking to bounce back from 2-0 loss at Tampa Bay on Monday that snapped their five-game winning streak.
In the loss to the Lightning, Utah couldn’t get any of its 28 shots past Andrei Vasilevsiky.
Clayton Keller leads the Mammoth in scoring with 50 points (16G, 34A), while Nick Schmaltz ranks second with 46 points (18G, 28A). Third in scoring with 45 points, Dylan Guenther has tallied a team-high 24 goals, with five of them coming on the power play.
Taking their talents to Utah as free agents this past summer, Nate Schmidt and Vitek Vanecek, two members of Florida’s 2025 Stanley Cup-winning squad, will make their return to Amerant Bank Arena tonight for the first time since they hoisted Lord Stanley in June.
“They were great,” Greer said of the duo. “Great tools for us last year.”
Closing the book on their two-game season series, the Panthers topped the Mammoth by a score of 4-3 in their first meeting back on Dec. 10 in Utah. Sam Bennett led the charge up front with three points (2G, 1A), while Bobrovsky turned aside 27 of 30 shots in the crease.
Providing the heroics, Anton Lundell scored the game-winning goal with 50.8 seconds left.
“I liked Sergei in the second period; I thought he was the difference,” head coach Paul Maurice said of the team’s first battle with the Mammoth. “I thought we came out right, but they were quick and got behind us a couple times to tie the game. I think they’re older than we are. This is a sneaky team. They’ve got some real good, young skilled players and they’ve added some really good veteran players to their group. They’ve got size.”
THEY SAID IT
“We know they play with a lot of speed. That’ll be part of our game, to manage that and kind of slow that down. I don’t really think it changes a whole lot for us. We’ll stick to what we’re doing well.” – Cole Schwindt on facing the Mammoth
“We’ve played some very well-structured hockey for our group, being able to stick together and battle adversity, especially with the schedule we had. … We came out and did our job. Everyone was on the same page.” – A.J. Greer on the 3-0-0 road trip
FIVE CATS STATS
- Sam Reinhart needs two assists to tie Viktor Kozlov (190) for ninth in franchise history.
- The Panthers are 14-3-0 when Sam Bennett scores a goal this season.
- Brad Marchand has notched a team-leading four multi-point games.
-Sam Bennett has logged 21 points (7G, 14A) in 27 games at home.
- The Panthers are averaging 31.6 shots on goal per game at home.
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
FORWARDS
Carter Verhaeghe – Evan Rodrigues – Sam Reinhart
Sandis Vilmanis – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Brad Marchand
A.J. Greer – Cole Scwhindt – Mackie Samoskevich
DEFENSEMEN
Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Uvis Balinskis
Tobias Bjornfot – Jeff Petry
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Daniil Tarasov
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
- Jan. 21: F Jack Studnicka loaned to Charlotte (AHL)
- Jan. 19: F Noah Gregor loaned to Charlotte (AHL)
- Jan. 16: D Uvis Balinskis agreed to terms on two-year contract extension
- Jan. 10: F Sandis Vilmanis recalled from Charlotte (AHL)
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
When: Tuesday, Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
TV & Streaming: WSFL, WHDT, WFTX, PanthersPlus.TV
Radio: 104.3 WQAM-FM/560 WQAM-AM (Dade/Broward); 106.3 WESP-FM (PALM BBEACH); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); 101.7 WCZR (TREASURE COAST); Panthers GameDay App; SiriusXM App & Streaming 931
Tickets: Click Here
