Blackhawks vs Panthers: Who Will Ignite the Ice and Light the Lamp First?

You ever notice how some seasons sneak up on you like a late-night phone call from an old friend? Here we are, smack dab in the middle of baseball playoffs and NFL chaos, while the hockey season tiptoes quietly onto the stage. Tonight’s opener? The Chicago Blackhawks — a team that’s still trying to find its new identity — going toe-to-toe with the reigning kings of ice, the Florida Panthers. It’s like watching a rookie trying to headline a rock concert against a band that just sold out Madison Square Garden twice in a row. The Blackhawks, with their young spark Connor Bedard and new netminder Spencer Knight, are hungry but still figuring it out. Meanwhile, the Panthers, fresh off back-to-back championships and armed with a deep roster plus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky’s stellar form, look ready to make history again. Makes you wonder — can the underdogs surprise us, or is this going to be another night of the champs flexing their muscle? Either way, grab your popcorn; this season’s kickoff has the makings of a compelling story. LEARN MORE

Blackhawks vs. Panthers, 5:00 ET

With the baseball playoffs and all of the upsets from Week 5 in the NFL, you probably don’t even realize that the hockey season starts tonight. Actually, the WNBA Finals are going on too, and so is college football, so hockey has taken a bit of a backstage. Hard to believe that we are already at another season as it feels like the Stanley Cup was just hoisted. The season opens with the team that did the hoisting, as the Blackhawks take on the defending champion Panthers.

The Blackhawks are going to be bad once again. This team ended last season with a 25-46-11 record for the year. That wasn’t quite pathetic, but it was really bad. It was still an improvement from the 23-53-6 record from two years ago, and about the same as when they went 26-49-7 in 2022-23. I bring those years up because this is supposed to be the new era of the Chicago Blackhawks. Gone are the days of Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. Now the team is focused on Connor Bedard who is entering his third season. While he has shown some flashes of brilliance, he isn’t quite turning the team around singlehandely. That would be a lot to ask of anyone, especially a now 20-year old. They did have the third draft pick this past year and took Anton Frondell but he is in the minors to start. They are likely to start Spencer Knight in the net tonight. He was with the Blackhawks and Florida last year. He was with the Panthers, then picked up by Chicago in April. In his time with the Blackhawks he started 15 games and allowed 48 goals. He does seem to have some talent, but he will need defensemen to limit his exposure if they want him to be truly effective.

The Panthers are the defending champions once again having won the past two Stanley Cup titles. They are in good shape to win a third, which given salary cap constraints and the way things align, is quite an accomplishment even if they don’t win. One thing you really don’t need to worry about with hockey players, and usually football players, is motivation. It seems like they are always putting their effort on the ice even if they are a bad team. These guys are good, and it isn’t just one or two guys who have talent. They have a deep roster that got even deeper during the season. Last year they had five guys with 50+ points. If you add in his work from his time in Boston, Brad Marchand brings that number to six players. A full season with him could vault them even further in the regular season. The team is likely to have Sergei Bobrovsky in the crease tonight. Bob, as he is affectionately called, was one of the best goalies in the league last season – ranking top five in wins, goals against per game, and shutouts. He faced the Blackhawks once last season and held them to just one goal.

This could be another long night for the Blackhawks as they have to face the Stanley Cup Champions. They will stand there and watch the banner get raised, then have to face a roaring crowd as the players return to the ice for the first time since last year. This is a game that might not have the full focus of the Panthers on defense, though so I do expect them to allow two goals. I still think they win this 4-2 so I’ll back the over in this one.

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