Schmid gets the net as Panthers crash Celebrini's captaincy party

Florida should win this one, and it should win it with the backup goalie. San Jose has the best young player in the West and a building ready to explode for his first night as captain. The cats bring a West Coast swing and the same 18 skaters who won in Carolina on Tuesday.

Akira Schmid gets the net in his Panthers debut. Jacob Markstrom stopped all 15 shots in the opener, and he still gets the night off. That's a coach trusting his depth in October, and I like it.

The lineup card:

Expected lines, unchanged from the opener.

• Brady Tkachuk – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart

• Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk

• Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Sandis Vilmanis

• Bokondji Imama – Lars Eller – Garnet Hathaway

• Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad

• Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones

• Dmitry Kulikov – Radko Gudas

Schmid starts, Markstrom backs up. Uvis Balinskis is the extra defenseman. Brady Tkachuk and Forsling skipped Wednesday's practice, and Maurice said both play.

Who's out

Brad Marchand (lower body) practiced Wednesday after August surgery. He won't play tonight, but Maurice sounded like a man moving up the calendar: "I think he is closer … than the end of the month." Jonah Gadjovich (upper body) is also out.

For San Jose, Adam Gaudette (upper body) is out. Ty Dellandrea, Brett Leason and Sam Dickinson are expected scratches.

The Sharks

There's no form to read yet, because this is their opener. What they did all summer was buy defense. Darnell Nurse, Jacob Trouba and Michael Kesselring are all new, and Yaroslav Askarov starts in goal.

Expected lines: Mason Marchment – Macklin Celebrini – Will Smith, then Igor Chernyshov – Michael Misa – Tyler Toffoli, Ivar Stenberg – Alexander Wennberg – Collin Graf, and Barclay Goodrow – Zack Ostapchuk – Kiefer Sherwood. The pairs are Nurse – Kesselring, Nolan Allan – Trouba and Dmitry Orlov – Luca Cagnoni. Stenberg makes his NHL debut.

Head to head

Florida is 12-2-0 against San Jose since 2018-19. Matthew Tkachuk has 12 points in seven career games against the Sharks, which is the kind of number that makes a guy circle a road date in October.

The one matchup:

Barkov against Celebrini. Barkov played about 20 and a half minutes in his first game since 2025, per NHL data, and he didn't look like a guy shaking off rust. Celebrini put up 115 points last season. Barkov's own read: "He's unreal player already."

If Barkov wins the middle of the ice, Celebrini spends the night chasing. That's the whole game.

The other number I'm watching is Seth Jones. He logged 29 minutes in the opener, the most on the team by more than six. In the second game of a long trip, Maurice may want to spread that around.

Pabs' read:

The Panthers win 4-2. San Jose will come flying in the first ten minutes, and that's where the 43 hits from Tuesday matter. Get on the Sharks' new-look D early, make them turn and go back for pucks, and the building calms down.

Schmid only needs to be solid, not spectacular. The penalty kill went 6-for-6 in Raleigh. Keep that going and the power play, still looking for its first goal, can take its time.

The latest line has Florida around -148, with the total at 6.5. 21+. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.

How to watch

Puck drops at 10 p.m. ET at SAP Center. Scripps has it in South Florida, NBC Sports California has the Sharks side, and TVA Sports carries it in Canada. Late one, so make the cafecito strong.

Game page.