Preview: Avs historic start faces tough task against Florida Panthers

4 days ago 2

Avalanche to wrap up back-to-back set in Florida today, Trent Miner possibly to start in goal for Colorado as Coloradonlooks to win their 11th straight.

Following their come-from-behind effort against the Carolina Hurricanes in the second installment of the Nordiques vs Whalers jersey matchup Saturday night, Colorado has a rapid turnaround as they’ll take on the reigning back-to-back Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers in South Beach this afternoon.

Winners of ten games in a row, the Avalanche come into this contest tasked with one of their toughest challenges of the season thus far, going into this matchup on very short rest, less than usual even for a back-to-back. The Avs will have to fight through some physical adversity against one of the league’s most rough-and-tough teams in the league, potentially with Trent Miner in net, as Mackenzie Blackwood remains unavailable for the road trip.

The Panthers, coming off of a frustrating 5-1 defeat to the New York Rangers Friday in the 2026 NHL Winter Classic at loanDepot Park in Miami, didn’t have much of a Stanley Cup hangover follow them into last season, but a combination of serious injuries to the likes of Alexander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk have knocked the Panthers down from being the NHL‘s most feared team, to a team in a legitimate competition for a playoff spot in an eastern conference that is incredibly balanced halfway into the season.

Sitting at 21-16-3, and closer to the bottom of the Eastern Conference than the top, the Panthers know what it takes to get it done in the playoffs with a healthy roster, but face a difficult road back to the postseason in the second half of the season.

Colorado Avalanche (31-2-7)

The Opponent: Florida Panthers (21-16-3)

Time: 3:00 P.M. MST/5:00 P.M. EST

Watch: ALT, ALT+ (Avalanche Broadcast Area), SCRIPPS (Florida Broadcast Area)

Listen: Altitude Sports Radio KKSE-FM 92.5 FM

Colorado Avalanche

There’s not much to be said about the Avalanche that hasn’t already been said this season. Winners of ten straight games, (coincidentally starting this streak against the Panthers back on Dec. 11), the Avs come into this afternoon’s contest looking to continue to pile up victories, but this game will see one of their toughest challenges of the entire season.

After a thrilling third period comeback win fueled by Nathan MacKinnon and Brock Nelson last night against the Carolina Hurricanes, the Avs had to board a plane for Florida for today’s matchup. The game didn’t end until around 10:00pm Est, with puck drop for tonight slated for 5:00pm Est. This is one of, if not the quickest turnarounds to a back-to-back the Avs will see all season, so it will be intriguing to see how much gas they have in the tank.

Additionally, with Goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood back in Colorado on Injured Reserve for the duration of this east coast road trip, it’s possible that Trent Miner will suit up against the pipes this afternoon. Miner, 24, has appeared in two contests for the Avs this season, with both appearances occurring back in October against the Carolina Hurricanes and New Jersey Devils. In those two appearances, Miner is 0-0-2 with a .909 save percentage and a 2.12 goals against average. Though no official starter has been named, it’s difficult to see Scott Wedgewood taking on both starts in the back-to-back set on such short rest, so expect Wedgewood back between the pipes when Colorado wraps up the road trip in Tampa Bay on Tuesday.

Gavin Brindley, who is on the trip nursing a minor injury but did not play last night, could possibly go today in favor of Taylor Makar, but we will not know until warmups if that will be the case.

Florida will be looking to come out with some fire in front of the home crowd after a disappointing effort in the Winter Classic, and the defensive structure will have to be maintained on gassed legs tonight for the Avs to continue this now double digit win streak.

Projected Lineup:

Gabriel Landeskog (92) — Nathan MacKinnon (29) — Martin Necas (88)

Artturi Lehkonen (62) — Brock Nelson (11) — Valeri Nichushkin (13)

Ross Colton (20) — Jack Drury (18) — Victor Olofsson (95)

Zakhar Bardakov (93) — Parker Kelly (17) — Taylor Makar (18)

Devon Toews (7) — Cale Makar (8)

Josh Manson (42) — Brent Burns (84)

Samuel Girard (49) — Sam Malinski (70)

Trent Miner (50)

Scott Wedgewood (41)

Florida Panthers

What was supposed to be an exciting start to the 2026 calendar year by hosting the NHL Winter Classic at the Miami Marlins’ loanDepot Park, turned into a disaster for the Panthers, who lost handily to the New York Rangers 5-1, and Olympic Defenseman Seth Jones in the process, who exited with an upper-body injury early in the contest, though Head Coach Paul Maurice stated that the injury “doesn’t look terrible right now.”

The Panthers, coming off back-to-back Stanley Cup championships, have felt the wrath of injuries in their conquest of a threepeat. Matthew Tkachuk underwent adductor surgery in August before the season and has yet to suit up for a game this season, but the largest blow happened only days into training camp, when Captain Alexander Barkov collided with Defenseman Niko Mikkola, tearing both the ACL and MCL in his right knee in the process.

With their two top forwards shelved for the entire season to this point (Barkov is not expected back in the regular season), the Panthers have relied largely on Olympian forwards Brad Marchand and Sam Reinhart to lead the load offensively. Thus far, the two are tied for the team lead in goals for the Panthers (23).

Goaltending has been a tremendous issue for Florida halfway through the season. Sergei Bobrovsky is navigating an abysmal campaign thus far, statistically posting the worst numbers of his 16 year NHL career. He has a 17-10-1 record, but an .885 goals against average and a 2.84 goals against average. He needs to turn around the save percentage if the Panthers want to go on a run for the top of the east for a third consecutive season.