The Florida Panthers kick off the 2026-27 season tonight, marking the fifth time that head coach Paul Maurice will begin a campaign behind the bench. Not only is he the only coach to lead the franchise to a Stanley Cup title, but he’s also the longest-tenured coach in franchise history. Tonight against the Minnesota Wild, Maurice will look to guide the Panthers to another season-opening win, improving upon his 3-1-0 record in first games with Florida. Here’s a look back at the previous four season openers.
Panthers defeat Islanders 3-1 (Oct. 13, 2022)
In Maurice’s first game with the Cats, the club defeated the New York Islanders 3-1 at UBS Arena. They got goals from Eetu Luostarinen, Patric Hörnqvist, and an empty-netter from Matthew Tkachuk, who also made his Panthers debut that night. As usual, Sergei Bobrovsky picked up the win, stopping 32 shots to finish with a .970 SV%.
Wild shutout Panthers 2-0 (Oct. 12, 2023)
A few months after playing in the Stanley Cup Final and losing to the Vegas Golden Knights, the Panthers kicked off the 2023-24 season on the road, visiting the Minnesota Wild. Thanks to goals from Brock Faber and Joel Eriksson Ek, the home team shut out the reigning Eastern Conference champions. Filip Gustavsson stopped 41 shots, including 10 from Tkachuk alone, to earn a shutout, while Bobrovsky surrendered two goals on 21 shots.
Panthers raise first Stanley Cup banner (Oct. 8, 2024)
As Stanley Cup champions, the Panthers welcomed the Boston Bruins to Amerant Bank Arena for their home opener, raising their first-ever championship banner. In a 6-4 win, the Panthers got goals from five different players, including two from Sam Bennett, who scored the season’s first goal. Overall, 11 Florida players had a point, with Bennett, Sam Reinhart, and Evan Rodrigues each having two. Between the pipes, Bobrovsky made 24 stops in the victory.
Another banner night, another victory (Oct. 7, 2025)
Last year, before the wheels completely fell off and the Panthers missed the playoffs, they began the season 3-0-0 with a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on opening night. A.J. Greer had Florida’s first goal, while Carter Verhaeghe and Jesper Boqvist had the other two. In his final season-opening appearance with the Panthers, Bobrovsky needed only 17 saves to preserve the win.
One interesting statistic from the previous two season openers is that Greer fought in each contest. Considering that Brady Tkachuk dropped the gloves in his first preseason game with the Cats, will he pick up the mantle left by Greer, or will someone else pick a fight?
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