Chicago Blackhawks vs Florida Panthers: Game preview, predictions and odds

The 2025-26 NHL season is set to kick off with a triple header on Tuesday, October 7. The first game of the season is the Chicago Blackhawks going on the road to play the Florida Panthers at 5 p.m. ET.

Blackhawks vs. Panthers: Head-to-head & key stats

Chicago is 30-19-3-5 all-time against Florida
The Blackhawks averaged 2.73 goals per game last season
Florida went 27-12-2 at home last season
Chicago allowed 3.5 goals per game last season
The Panthers averaged 3 goals per game
The Blackhawks went 10-26-5 on the road last year
Florida allowed 2.71 goals per game

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Florida Panthers: Preview

The Chicago Blackhawks had the second-worst record in the NHL last season and are expected to be one of the worst teams again. Chicago had a relatively quiet offseason, as the major additions were Andre Burakovsky and defenseman Matt Grzelcyk.

The Blackhawks are expected to start Spencer Knight, whom Florida traded to Chicago last year. Knight went 17-16-3 for 2.72 GAA and a .901 SV% last season. This will be his first career game against the Panthers.

Florida, meanwhile, is the reigning Stanley Cup champion and has won back-to-back games. The offseason saw the Panthers re-sign Sam Bennett, Brad Marchand, and Aaron Ekblad to keep the band back together. However, Matthew Tkachuk is out until December and Aleksander Barkov is done for the year.

The Panthers will be starting Sergei Bobrovsky. The Russian went 33-19-2 with a 2.44 GAA and a .906 SV% last season. He's 17-6-2 with a 2.46 GAA and a .919 SV% in his career against the Blackhawks.

Blackhawks vs. Panthers: Odds & Prediction

Chicago is a +230 underdog while Florida is a -285 favorite, with the over/under set for 5.5 goals.

The Blackhawks will likely struggle to score again, but Knight should be a massive upgrade in net. Florida does have some major question marks with its team due to injuries.

However, expect the likes of Reinhart and Bennett to step up offensively in this game to give Florida a big win. The Panthers are raising the Cup banner, and Florida will cruise to a lopsided win here.

Panthers 4, Blackhawks 2.

Blackhawks vs. Panthers: Betting Tips

Tip 1: Florida -1.5 (-110)

Tip 2: Over 5.5 goals (-118)

Tip 3: Brad Marchand 3+ shots on goal (-120)

Tip 4: Florida -0.5 first period (+100)

About the author

Cole is an NHL, NFL and College Sports reporter at Sportskeeda with over 7 years of experience writing for publications like CBC, USA Today, SMG, BJPENN, Sherdog and SB Nation.

An NHL fan his whole life, Cole played rep hockey in Canada from age 5 until 17 and grew up rooting for Martin St. Louis and the Tampa Bay Lightning. His all-time favorite players are Vincent Lecavalier and Steven Stamkos, while Jon Cooper is his favorite coach of all time.

Cole attended Sheridan College and received his journalism degree in 2019. After decades of watching and reporting, he considers his knowledge of sports as his primary strength. He ensures that the same story has been reported by at least two reputed reporters before creating it.

Cole enjoys playing golf and spending time with friends and family when not reporting breaking stories. His favorite sports moment is from the 2010 Olympics, when Sidney Crosby scored the golden goal in overtime to beat Team USA for the gold medal.

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Edited by Cole Shelton

Chicago Blackhawks vs Florida Panthers: Game preview, predictions and odds | October 7, 2025

Blackhawks vs. Panthers: Head-to-head & key stats

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Florida Panthers: Preview

Blackhawks vs. Panthers: Odds & Prediction

Blackhawks vs. Panthers: Betting Tips