The Florida Panthers will take on the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Thursday without their leading scorer, Brad Marchand, who is sidelined day to day with an undisclosed injury. Despite multiple injuries, the Panthers remain competitive, sitting two points out of a wild-card spot. The surging Canadiens, fresh off a win against Calgary, lead the Atlantic Division chase.
The Florida Panthers (22-17-3) face the Montreal Canadiens (24-13-6) on January 8, 2026, at 7 p.m. ET in Montreal's Bell Centre. This matchup comes amid injury challenges for Florida, with forward Brad Marchand, who tops the team with 46 points (23 goals, 23 assists), ruled out after not playing the third period in Tuesday's 4-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Head coach Paul Maurice described the issue as short-term, stating, “He might be our only short-term injury.” Marchand is day to day and could return as soon as Saturday against Ottawa.
Florida's injury list is lengthy: captain Aleksander Barkov (knee), Matthew Tkachuk (lower body), Jonah Gadjovich (upper body), Tomas Nosek (knee), Cole Schwindt (arm), Seth Jones (upper body), and Dmitry Kulikov (shoulder) remain sidelined. Despite the absences, the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions hold a spot two points behind the Eastern Conference's second wild-card position. Maurice emphasized resilience: “To humble yourself to play the hardest, basic, most-simple game... It’s a challenge. I’m really pleased with what they’ve done.”
Lineup adjustments see A.J. Greer promoted to the second line alongside Sam Bennett and Carter Verhaeghe, Jesper Boqvist moving to the third, and Jack Studnicka returning to the fourth. Sergei Bobrovsky will start in net, with Daniil Tarasov as backup.
The Canadiens enter on a hot streak, with a 7-1-2 record in their last 10 games, including a 4-1 victory over Calgary on Wednesday powered by Alexandre Texier's three points. Nick Suzuki leads Montreal with 47 points (14 goals, 33 assists), followed by defenseman Lane Hutson at 43 points (8 goals, 35 assists). Cole Caufield has 21 goals, including four in his last seven games. Sam Montembeault or Jakub Dobes is expected in goal.
The teams last met on December 30, when Montreal rallied from a 2-0 deficit for a 3-2 overtime win, with Suzuki scoring the game-winner. Forward Sam Reinhart praised Suzuki: “He’s so smart... The better he goes, the better their team goes.” Greer added about the intimidating venue: “Just keep things simple... focus on the things that you do best.” Maurice noted Montreal's evolution: “Montreal is an evolving, changing, highly-skilled team. We’re still learning how to play against them.”
Panthers stats highlight Sam Reinhart's 17 points in 16 games against Montreal and the team's 13-4-2 record when scoring first.
