Early look The full preview opens on Tuesday 23 February, 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 Utah Mammoth: game preview

Puck drop26 Feb · 9:00 PM ET
VenueDelta Center
All-time meetings4 completed
BasisLast 5 meetings + 2025-26
The thesis

Eight points apart last season

Florida finished last season 25th in the league on 84 points. Utah finished 15th on 92.

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

Head-to-head

Meeting number 5

Across 4 completed games, Florida lead the head-to-head 3-1-0.

All-time record3-1-0Florida's record in the series
Meetings played4This is number 5
2025-26 series—
Last 43-1Florida
DateResultShotsPower playWinner
27 Jan 2026UTA 4 – FLA 3——UTA
10 Dec 2025FLA 4 – UTA 3——FLA
28 Mar 2025UTA 1 – FLA 2 OT——FLA
8 Jan 2025FLA 4 – UTA 1——FLA
Head-to-head finder

The table on each 2025-26 meeting night

DateFloridaUtah
10 Dec 202515-12-2 · 32 pts18th14-15-3 · 31 pts24th
27 Jan 202628-20-3 · 59 pts14th27-21-4 · 58 pts16th

League rank after that night's games; a longer bar is a higher place. On 10 Dec 2025, Florida were 18th in the league and Utah 24th. By 27 Jan 2026 it was 14th and 16th.


Where the shots come from · last 4 meetings

Florida out-attempted Utah 143 to 98

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

Florida Panthers

143 att · 66 on goal · 7 G · 10.6%
Crease18 att · 2 G
Slot48 att · 2 G
Wing51 att · 3 G
Point25 att · 0 G
Neutral zone1 att · 0 G

Utah Mammoth

98 att · 50 on goal · 7 G · 14.0%
Crease11 att · 0 G
Slot42 att · 6 G
Wing29 att · 1 G
Point12 att · 0 G
Neutral zone4 att · 0 G
GoalOn goalMissedBlocked

Expected goals

Florida and Utah 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.

FloridaUtah
3.01xG for per game3.62
2.34xG against per game2.71
56.3%xG share57.2%
−4.0FinishingGoals minus expected goals+2.5
+1.4GoaltendingExpected goals against minus goals allowed+2.8

This season: 4 games for Florida, 4 for Utah. 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 4 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

Utah

Small sample
Power play · 2026-2761.5%
Power play · 2025-2620.0% · 18th
Power play · last 4 meetings—
Penalty kill · 2026-2792.9%
Penalty kill · 2025-2678.1% · 19th
Faceoffs · 2026-2753.0% · 124/234
Drawn · 2026-2713 (3.25/gm)
Drawn · last meetings0 (0.00/gm)
Shorthanded · 2026-2714 (3.50/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
8Nick Schmaltz45271.75
11Dylan Guenther43361.50
Points leaders
PlayerGPGAPP/GP
3Seth Jones41010.25
42Gustav Forsling31010.33
20Andrew Peeke41120.50
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 24 Feb: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.

Expected starter after their game on 24 Feb: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.

Florida crease

FLA · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 23 Feb

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

No appearances against Utah in the last meetings.

Utah crease

UTA · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 23 Feb

Karel Vejmelka.9133 GP · 2-1-0 · GSAx +1.7
Sebastian Cossa.9471 GP · 1-0-0 · GSAx +1.4

No appearances against Florida in the last meetings.


Totals

Scoring rates point to about 6.1 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 4 meetings

27 Jan 20267 · UTA 4–3 FLA
10 Dec 20257 · FLA 4–3 UTA
28 Mar 20253 · UTA 1–2 FLA
8 Jan 20255 · FLA 4–1 UTA

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
Utah4.252.003.272.93

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 suggest6.1Goals in this game
Last 4 meetings5.5Goals per game
Line—No total posted yet
Books at the line—With the game-day prices

Team news

7 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

Utah · injuries

Maveric LamoureuxShoulderIRReturn12 Feb
Mikhail SergachevUpper BodyDay-to-dayReturn8 Oct
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 · UTA

Placed LW Ben McCartney on waivers.

25 Sep · UTA

Assigned Fs Yegor Borikov, Caleb Desnoyers, Tij Iginla, Gabe Smith and G Michael Hrabal to Tucson (AHL). Waived for the purpose of assignment to Fs Brandon Tanev and Joshua Roy and D Zac Jones.

23 Jul 2026 · UTA

Signed D Max Psenicka to a three-year contract.

Injury report
#40Simas IgnataviciusRound 2 · GeneveRW
#48Ryder CaliRound 2 · North BayC
#98Jonas KempsRound 4 · ChicagoD
#168Vilho VanhataloRound 6 · Tappara Jr.RW
Full draft
#17Ethan BelchetzRound 1 · WindsorLW
#96Adam ValentiniRound 3 · MichiganC
#115Carl AxelssonRound 4 · MuskegonG
#130Theodor KnightsRound 5 · Modo Jr.D
Full draft

Updated after every final