Early look The full preview opens on Thursday 1 April, three days before puck drop, with the expected goalies, the latest team news and game-day prices. Until then this page shows the matchup as it stands.
Early look · NHL 2026-27

Florida Panthers at New Jersey Devils: game preview

Puck drop4 Apr · 4:30 PM ET
VenuePrudential Center
All-time meetings130 completed
BasisLast 5 meetings + 2025-26
The thesis

Three points apart last season

Florida finished last season 25th in the league on 84 points. New Jersey finished 21st on 87.

Game-day prices arrive with the afternoon snapshot, about 4:30 PM ET on the day of the game.

Head-to-head

Meeting number 131

Across 130 completed games, New Jersey lead the head-to-head 76-41-13.

All-time record76-41-13New Jersey's record in the series
Meetings played130This is number 131
2025-26 series—
Last 53-2New Jersey
DateResultShotsPower playWinner
3 Mar 2026FLA 1 – NJD 5——NJD
20 Nov 2025NJD 0 – FLA 1——FLA
16 Oct 2025FLA 1 – NJD 3——NJD
14 Jan 2025FLA 2 – NJD 1 SO——FLA
14 Nov 2024NJD 6 – FLA 2——NJD
Head-to-head finder

The table on each 2025-26 meeting night

DateFloridaNew Jersey
16 Oct 20253-3-0 · 6 pts15th3-1-0 · 6 pts7th
20 Nov 202511-8-1 · 23 pts21st13-6-1 · 27 pts4th
3 Mar 202628-20-3 · 59 pts14th27-23-2 · 56 pts20th

League rank after that night's games; a longer bar is a higher place. On 16 Oct 2025, Florida were 15th in the league and New Jersey 7th. By 3 Mar 2026 it was 14th and 20th.


Where the shots come from · last 5 meetings

New Jersey out-attempted Florida 176 to 161

Every attempt from the last meetings, both teams shooting right.

Florida Panthers

161 att · 67 on goal · 3 G · 4.5%
Crease12 att · 0 G
Slot57 att · 2 G
Wing56 att · 1 G
Point34 att · 0 G
Neutral zone2 att · 0 G

New Jersey Devils

176 att · 98 on goal · 8 G · 8.2%
Crease7 att · 0 G
Slot69 att · 4 G
Wing59 att · 3 G
Point33 att · 1 G
Neutral zone8 att · 0 G
GoalOn goalMissedBlocked

Expected goals

Florida and New Jersey are level on chances, last 10 games

Shot quality both ways: expected goals weigh every unblocked attempt by its chance of scoring. Finishing above zero means more goals than the chances.

FloridaNew Jersey
3.01xG for per game3.52
2.34xG against per game3.01
56.3%xG share53.9%
−4.0FinishingGoals minus expected goals−4.5
+1.4GoaltendingExpected goals against minus goals allowed−4.0

This season: 4 games for Florida, 3 for New Jersey. Small sample: early-season xG moves a lot from night to night.

Every team’s xG →


Special teams

Power play and penalty kill, season and series

This season's rates first, then 2025-26 and the last meetings between the two. Power-play chances are counted from the penalty log with coincidental minors cancelled; faceoffs are each club's wins over draws taken.

All bars share one scale · 0–100%SeasonLast meetings

Florida

Small sample
Power play · 2026-274.3%
Power play · 2025-2619.5% · 19th
Power play · last 5 meetings—
Penalty kill · 2026-2778.9%
Penalty kill · 2025-2681.0% · 9th
Faceoffs · 2026-2750.2% · 115/229
Drawn · 2026-2723 (5.75/gm)
Drawn · last meetings0 (0.00/gm)
Shorthanded · 2026-2719 (4.75/gm)
PP goals · last meetings0

New Jersey

Small sample
Power play · 2026-277.1%
Power play · 2025-2622.0% · 13th
Power play · last 5 meetings—
Penalty kill · 2026-2762.5%
Penalty kill · 2025-2679.3% · 17th
Faceoffs · 2026-2747.5% · 87/183
Drawn · 2026-2714 (4.67/gm)
Drawn · last meetings0 (0.00/gm)
Shorthanded · 2026-278 (2.67/gm)
PP goals · last meetings0

Skaters

Skaters to watch

Each club's top three forwards and defencemen by points this season, with 2025-26 one tap away.

PlayerGPGAPP/GP
19Matthew Tkachuk42130.75
20Lars Eller40330.75
9Sam Bennett40330.75
86Jack Hughes31120.67
63Jesper Bratt30220.67
Points leaders
PlayerGPGAPP/GP
3Seth Jones41010.25
42Gustav Forsling31010.33
43Luke Hughes31010.33
47Declan Chisholm30110.33
Defencemen stats

Goaltending

Who has stopped this matchup

Save percentage in the last meetings by goalie. Starters are confirmed on game day.

Expected startersAn estimate until the teams confirmEvery game tonight →

Expected starter after their game on 3 Apr: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.

Expected starter after their game on 3 Apr: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.

Florida crease

FLA · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 1 Apr

Jacob Markstrom.9273 GP · 2-0-1 · GSAx +3.2
Akira Schmid.8751 GP · 0-0-1 · GSAx −1.0

No appearances against New Jersey in the last meetings.

New Jersey crease

NJD · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 1 Apr

Jake Allen.8752 GP · 1-1-0 · GSAx −1.7
Nico Daws.8131 GP · 0-1-0 · GSAx −2.5

No appearances against Florida in the last meetings.


Totals

Scoring rates point to about 6.0 goals

No total is posted yet: it arrives with the game-day prices. Until then, the scoring rates and the recent meetings set the range.

Goals in the last 5 meetings

3 Mar 20266 · FLA 1–5 NJD
20 Nov 20251 · NJD 0–1 FLA
16 Oct 20254 · FLA 1–3 NJD
14 Jan 20253 · FLA 2–1 NJD
14 Nov 20248 · NJD 6–2 FLA

Bar length is total goals, coloured by the winner.

Scoring rates

Team26-27 GF26-27 GA25-26 GF25-26 GA
Florida2.002.003.063.37
New Jersey2.004.332.803.10

Goals for and against per game. The estimate averages each team’s scoring with the other’s goals allowed, and leans on 2025-26 until a team has played 20 games.

Scoring rates suggest6.0Goals in this game
Last 5 meetings4.4Goals per game
Line—No total posted yet
Books at the line—With the game-day prices

Team news

10 on the injury lists

Florida · injuries

Aaron EkbladPersonalOutReturn10 Oct
Aleksander BarkovLower BodyIRReturn27 Nov
Brad MarchandLegDay-to-dayReturn10 Oct
Jonah GadjovichUpper BodyIRReturn17 Oct
MacKenzie EntwistleUndisclosedIRReturn10 Oct

New Jersey · injuries

Connor BrownLower BodyOutReturn12 Oct
Johnathan KovacevicKneeIRReturn10 Oct
Jonas SiegenthalerUndisclosedDay-to-dayReturn10 Oct
Nick BjugstadPectoralIRReturn19 Jan
Seamus CaseyKneeIRReturn21 Nov
3 Oct · FLA

Placed C Aleksander Barkov on long-term injured reserve. Called up D Alexander Petrovic from Charlotte (AHL).

3 Oct · FLA

Placed C Aleksander Barkov on long-term injured reserve.

27 Sep · FLA

Placed RW/C Cole Schwindt, RD Alexander Petrovic, LD Donovan Sebrango, LW Kai Schwindt, LW Cole Reinhardt, RW Sam Lafferty and C/LW John Beecher on waivers. Agreed to terms with RW Nathan Bastian on a 1-year, two-way contract.

27 Sep · NJD

Claimed LW Jeremie Poirier off waivers.

27 Sep · NJD

Claimed LW Jeremie Poirier off waivers. Placed C/RW Marc McLaughlin, LD Vladislav Kolyachonok, G David Rittich, LW Riley Tufte, LD Topias Vilen, and C/RW Colin White on waivers.

25 Sep · NJD

Assigned Ds Mikael Diotte, Ethan Edwards, Jeremy Hanzel, Etienne Morin and Anton Silaev, Fs Josh Filmon, Lenni Hameenaho, Shane Lachance, Matyas Melovsky, Xavier Parent, Cam Squires and Ben Steeves and G Jakub Malek to Utica (AHL). Waived for the purpose of assignment to Utica Ds DJ King, Charles Leddy and Eamon Powell, Fs Tristan Ashbrook, Zachary Gallant, Gabe Klassen, Jack Malone, Justin Pearson, Ryan Schmelzer, Cristophe Tellier and Jermey Wilmer and Gs Jeremy Brodeur and Seth Eisele.

Injury report
#40Simas IgnataviciusRound 2 · GeneveRW
#48Ryder CaliRound 2 · North BayC
#98Jonas KempsRound 4 · ChicagoD
#168Vilho VanhataloRound 6 · Tappara Jr.RW
Full draft
#12Alexander CommandRound 1 · Orebro Jr.C
#37Matias VanhanenRound 2 · EverettLW
#44Nikita ShcherbakovRound 2 · Ufa Jr.D
#119Lavr GashilovRound 4 · Yekaterinburg Jr.C
Full draft

Updated after every final