An extremely difficult task awaits the Florida Panthers on Sunday afternoon in Sunrise.
Florida will look to avoid a third straight defeat when they host the NHL-best Colorado Avalanche at Amerant Bank Arena.
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After marching through a strong stretch in December that saw the Panthers reel off wins in seven of eight, Florida has struggled of late.
Following the NHL’s annual holiday break around Christmas, the Panthers have lost three of four, including Friday’s Winter Classic at loanDepot Park.
Now they’ll try to right the ship against the top team in the league.
The Panthers were in Colorado a little less than a month ago, playing the second night of a back-to-back after winning in Utah the previous evening.
Several Panthers players said that was one of the toughest back-to-back sets they’d played due to the sudden changes in both time zone and elevation.
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We’ll see if they can come up with a better effort on Sunday, after having a day off and being able to sleep in their own beds beforehand.
Florida defenseman Seth Jones left Friday’s Winter Classic with an upper-body injury and did not return, and his status for Sunday’s game remains unknown.
Jones took a deflected puck to the shoulder/collarbone area, but after the game Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice said he didn’t think it was anything too serious.
Hopefully, for Florida’s sake, that means Jones will be good to go against Colorado.
Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Sunday’s meeting with the Avalanche:
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Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Brad Marchand
Mackie Samoskevich – Evan Rodrigues – A.J. Greer
Jesper Boqvist – Luke Kunin – Jack Studnicks
Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones
Uvis Balinskis – Jeff Petry
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Photo caption: Jan 2, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice looks on during the second period in the 2026 Winter Classic ice hockey game against the New York Rangers at loanDepot Park. (Rhona Wise-Imagn Images)
