The Florida Panthers picked up right where they left off.
Getting off to a 1-0-0 start, the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions opened their 2025-26 campaign with a 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday.
“Getting points early in the season is going to be extremely important for us,” defenseman Aaron Ekblad said. “We know that. We came to play.”
Below, find some numbers that stood out from the win.
77.8%: Anton Lundell’s faceoff percentage. In the absence of injured captain Aleksander Barkov, Lundell, often referred to as “Baby Barkov,” picked up the slack in the circle. Owning the dot against Chicago, his team-high 14 faceoff wins were the most in his career to date.
12: Wins for the Panthers when opening a season at home. Improving to 12-0-2 all time, the Panthers are the only team besides the Utah Mammoth (1-0-0) to not suffer a regulation loss in a season-opening game played in their own barn.
8: Season-opening wins for Sergei Bobrovsky. Making 17 saves against the Blackhawks, he became the ninth goaltender in NHL history to earn at least eight wins in season-opening contests, joining Martin Brodeur (10), Marc-Andre Fleury (10), Curtis Joseph (10), Ryan Miller (9), Henrik Lundqvist (8), Craig Anderson (8), Mike Vernon (8) and Jacques Plante (8).
5: Hits for A.J. Greer. After leading the Panthers with 222 hits last season, the rough-and-tough forward racked up a team-high five against Chicago. He also scored a goal and dropped the gloves with Nick Folingo, finishing an assist shy of a rare Gordie Howe hat trick.
2: Primary assists for Mackie Samoskevich. Named the second star of the game, the second-year pro notched his fifth career multi-point game. Coming up in the clutch, he set up both of Florida’s last two goals, including Jesper Boqvist's game-winner.
9: Straight wins at home against the Blackhawks. Can the Panthers host Chicago every game? As it stands now, Florida’s nine-game run is tied for the longest home-winning streak against a single opponent in franchise history.
17: Shots for the Panthers in the first period. The defending champs came out firing in front of a feisty home crowd after raising their second straight championship banner. Heading into the first intermission, they led 17-3 in shots on goal.
24:41: Minutes for Aaron Ekblad. The big dog played a big role for the Panthers against the Chicago. In addition to posting a plus-two rating alongside Gustav Forsling at 5-on-5, the veteran blueliner spent more than two minutes on both the power play and penalty kill.
18: High-danger shot attempts for the Panthers. In the battle for the area around the blue paint, Florida absolutely crushed Chicago, leading 18-5 in high-danger shot attempts.
80.65%: Share of shot attempts for Florida’s new-look top line at 5-on-5. Despite only have one practice together under their belt, the line of Brad Marchand, Sam Bennett and Carter Verhaeghe looked more than comfortable on Opening Night. When they were deployed against Chicago, the Panthers boasted a staggering 25-6 advantage in shot attempts.
