The Chicago Blackhawks and the Florida Panthers squared off in the regular season opener in Sunrise, Florida, which aired on national television, no less (ESPN).
The Panthers had their Stanley Cup banner-raising ceremony, and despite the glitz of the night, both sides opened with some key injuries.
On the Blackhawks side, they were without their top defenseman, Alex Vlasic, and forward Landon Slaggert. Meanwhile, the Panthers were also without some of their most valuable players, including Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, and Tomas Nosek.
However, the night also made for interesting storylines, as it was the first time these two teams faced each other since the mega trade involving Seth Jones and Spencer Knight in March.
The Panthers came out victorious in a 3-2 win.
Game Recap
The game got off to an entertaining start, with plenty of action. Connor Bedard hit the post, almost giving the Blackhawks an early lead. Then, goaltender Spencer Knight stopped an odd-man rush with Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett. The first lead of the game came from a breakaway goal from Frank Nazar to put Chicago up 1-0 with nine minutes left in the period. But, a minute later, Florida had the response with a goal from A.J. Greer to make it 1-1.
Defenseman Artyom Levshunov had two penalties in the period, and the Blackhawks killed one of them, but the Panthers took advantage of the second one with Vergaeghe making it 2-1 on the power play. To top things off, Nick Foligno and Greer got into a fight, and Florida’s Anton Lundell hit the post towards the end of the first period. Shots were 17-3, Florida. Knight was fantastic.
There was a good rebound response by the Blackhawks in the second period. They tied the game 2-2 off of a goal from Teuvo Teräväinen. Ilya Mikheyev also had a breakaway chance that was stopped by Sergei Bobrovsky not long before the Teräväinen goal. The Panthers had a couple of looks and killed two penalties, but that period was slanted in favor of Chicago, as they outshot the Panthers 11-9.
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In the third period, the Blackhawks got a power play opportunity after a penalty by Luke Kunin that came up empty, and Jesper Boqvist made it 3-2 in a baseball-like goal for the Panthers not long after, and that was the game-winning goal. The Panthers poured the shots on goal 11-5. Knight stopped quite a few Grade-A chances, including an opportunity by Sam Reinhart with less than two minutes left in the game.
Ultimately, it wasn’t a bad effort by Chicago. But the Panthers showed why they are the reigning Stanley Cup Champions with the win. They outshot the Hawks 37-19.
What’s Next?
The Blackhawks continue their road trip to Boston, where they will face the Boston Bruins on Oct. 9. They hope to have Vlasic back for that game. Then, they return home for their home opener against the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 11.
Meanwhile, the Panthers will continue their homestand for their next two games against the Philadelphia Flyers (Oct. 9) and the Ottawa Senators (Oct. 11).
