The Stanley Cup champions started their title defense with a fitting finish. Jesper Boqvist scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period, and the Florida Panthers — after raising their second straight Stanley Cup banner to the rafters — edged the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 on Opening Night of the 2025-26 NHL season.
Mackie Samoskevich, celebrating the start of his second full NHL season, chipped a puck toward the net that Boqvist deftly batted out of the air and past former Panthers goaltender Spencer Knight with 10:20 remaining. The goal gave Florida the lead for good and capped a gritty performance for a team missing stars Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk to injuries.
“It wasn’t pretty, but that’s the kind of game you have to win early in the season,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “The guys battled, and Boqvist came through when we needed it.”
A.J. Greer and Carter Verhaeghe also scored for Florida, which got 17 saves from veteran goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. Samoskevich picked up two assists — marking the fifth multi-point game of his young career — while the Panthers controlled most of the night, outshooting Chicago 37-19.
For Chicago, it was a promising but ultimately frustrating debut for new head coach Jeff Blashill, who took over in May after seven seasons behind the bench in Detroit. The Blackhawks got goals from Frank Nazar and Teuvo Teravainen, along with 34 saves from Knight in his first game against his former team.
“It’s never fun losing, but we showed some compete,” Blashill said. “Spencer was outstanding, and we’ll build from here.”
Nazar opened the scoring midway through the first period on a breakaway, giving the Blackhawks a brief 1-0 lead. But the Panthers quickly flipped momentum — Greer tied it with a deflection in front, and Verhaeghe followed three minutes later to make it 2-1 after one.
Teravainen knotted the game again early in the second, burying a rebound past Bobrovsky to make it 2-2, setting up Boqvist’s late heroics in the third.
For Florida, it was a familiar formula: depth scoring, patient defense, and timely execution — even without two of their biggest offensive weapons.
“It’s emotional to raise another banner,” Verhaeghe said. “You think about everything that went into it, but then you’ve got to play hockey again. We did that tonight.”
Blackhawks: Visit the Boston Bruins on Thursday, Panthers: Host the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.
