EDMONTON – This feels familiar.
On the first stop of a back-to-back to close out their four-game road trip, the Florida Panthers will face-off against the rival Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Thursday.
The Panthers have defeated the Oilers in each of the last two Stanley Cup Finals, with their last game in Edmonton being a 5-2 win in Game 5 of last year’s thrilling Final.
With all that, it’s hard not to get a sense of Déjà vu.
"We were on the elevator [last night at the hotel] going up to the rooms with eight guys, and it was all eight guys that have been here the last two years,” forward Matthew Tkachuk said of being back in Edmonton. “We were just talking about how great a feeling it was last year after winning that Game 5 here. Probably one of the best feelings after a game we’ve ever had, knowing that we have a chance to go home and win the Cup on home soil again.”
Unfortunately, an injury-plagued season for the Panthers has put a damper on their quest for a third straight Stanley Cup as the defending champs currently sit 13 points out of the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 15 games left in the regular season.
After winning three straight games, the Panthers have dropped the first two games on their trip, losing 6-2 at Seattle and then 5-2 at Vancouver in their most-recent outing on Tuesday.
But even with key players still unavailable due to injuries and others coming in out of the lineup, the Panthers know they need to stick to their game no matter how this season ends.
"We have a certain expectation here; we have a certain culture set,” Tkachuk said of the team’s mindset. “You've got to get up for these games. It's hard not to get up for this one. It's a team we've played the last two years. We've created something here we don't want to ruin just by maybe not having our best year. We’re all just grinding through this together.”
On fire since helping the United States win gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics, Tkachuk has logged 14 points (6G, 8A) in 10 games since the break. Right behind him, Sam Bennett has notched nine points (6G, 3A) in that stretch, while Carter Verhaeghe has six points (3G, 3A).
In terms of expected lineup changes in Edmonton, Eetu Luostarinen, Evan Rodrigues and Niko Mikkola will return to action against the Oilers after missing the loss the Canucks, while Nolan Foote, Vinnie Hinostroza and Donovan Sebrango will come out to make room.
Fresh off becoming the 18th goaltender in NHL history to appear in 800 games, Sergei Bobrovsky will man the creases for No. 801 against the Oilers. With one more win, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner will tie Curtis Joseph for the seventh-most wins in NHL history with 454.
Enjoying a homecoming, Mike Benning, who made his NHL debut on March 12, is a native of Edmonton and will have lots of friends and family in the stands cheering him on tonight.
“It’s good,” the young defenseman said. “I have a lot of family here, grew up here, watched my brother play here. It’s exciting, but you’ve got to treat it like every other game.”
Winners in each of their last two games, the Oilers enter tonight’s matchup sitting at 34-26-9, but only holding a slim one-point lead over Vegas for second place in the Pacific Division.
Playing their first game since it was announced that star forward Leon Draisaitl will miss the rest of the regular season with a lower-body injury, the Oilers had 13 different players pick up the slack and record a point during a 5-3 win over the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday.
Of course, even without Draisaitl, the Oilers still have the NHL’s leading scorer.
Sitting atop both Edmonton and the NHL’s leaderboard, Connor McDavid, who’s in the driver’s seat for his sixth Art Ross Trophy, has recorded 115 points (37G, 78A). On the blue line for the Oilers, Evan Bouchard ranks first among NHL D-men with 78 points (19G, 59A).
With question marks still surrounding Edmonton’s crease, Connor Ingram is expected to get the nod in net against the Panthers. In 22 appearances this season, he’s posted an 11-6-2 record with a 2.71 goals-against average, a .895 save percentage and one shutout.
In their first meeting this season, the Oilers earned a 6-3 win over the Panthers back on Nov. 22 at Amerant Bank Arena. Jack Roslovic scored twice for Edmonton in the win, while Mackie Samoskevich earned second-star honors for Florida with a goal and an assist.
As always, tonight’s rematch should bring out the best in both squads.
“We felt we haven’t felt we’ve had it (the juice) for the last couple, for sure,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “We’ve had some important players out and been a little worn down, but I think the juice is going to here for both teams tonight.”
THEY SAID IT
“There’s a very big respect for each other going to the Cup Final the last two years. Whenever that happens, it doesn’t matter who you play, there’s going to be dislike. Then when you play a team two years in a row, no matter what round, it just seems to ramp up.” – Matthew Tkachuk on tonight’s rematch with the Oilers
“It’s a tough building to play in. It gets pretty loud. It’s going to be fun. I think we were missing that over the last couple weeks, fun games. They definitely have something to prove, so it’s going to be a good one.” – Carter Verhaeghe on the challenge of facing the Oilers
FIVE CATS STATS
- Florida’s 81.7% penalty kill rating ranks ninth among NHL teams as of March. 17.
- The Panthers are 4-1-1 in their last six regular-season games vs. Edmonton.
- Sam Bennett has logged 10 points (5G, 5A) in his last nine games vs. the Oilers.
- Luke Kunin leads Florida with 5.10 blocks per 60 minutes.
- The Panthers are 22-8-2 when scoring first this season.
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Forwards
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Jesper Boqvist
A.J. Greer – Evan Rodrigues – Mackie Samoskevich
Cole Reinhardt – Tomas Nosek – Luke Kunin
Defensemen
Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones
Dmitry Kulikov – Mike Benning
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Daniil Tarasov
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
- March 15: F Nolan Foote recalled from Charlotte (AHL)
- March 12: D Mike Benning recalled from Charlotte (AHL)
- March 7: F Sandis Vilmanis and D Tobias Bjornfot loaned to Charlotte (AHL)
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
When: Thursday, March 19 at 9 p.m. ET
Where: Rogers Place – Edmonton, AB
TV & Streaming: WSFL, WHDT, WFTX, PanthersPlus.TV
Radio: 560 WQAM (Dade/Broward); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); 101.7 WCZR (Treasure Coast); Panthers GameDay App; SiriusXM App & Streaming 931
Watch Party: Geronimos
