{"id":475531,"date":"2025-10-11T08:13:49","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T12:13:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=475531"},"modified":"2025-10-11T17:15:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T21:15:02","slug":"nhl-predictions-october-11th-2025-26-ottawa-senators-florida-panthers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/10\/11\/nhl-predictions-october-11th-2025-26-ottawa-senators-florida-panthers\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Predictions Senators Edition October 11th Ottawa at Florida Panthers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2025-26 NHL season may be young, in fact this will be the first Saturday night on the schedule. But already there are signals of a changing of the guard, looking back, it likely started last year. Before we get into that, let’s welcome you back for another go around of NHL Predictions<\/a> was us here at Last Word On Hockey<\/em>. Here we feature the Ottawa Senators, as they take on the Florida Panthers in the Sens second and the Cats third game, respectively. This will be a good battle of a couple teams that made the Stanley Cup playoffs last year. Not to mention, the Panthers won the ultimate prize, but also, both teams are hopeful of similar success this year. In the Sens case, more success.<\/p>\n

NHL Predictions for the Senators and Panthers<\/h3>\n

2024-25 Regular Season Series: Senators won 2 – 1<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n

Time: 7:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n

TV: Sportsnet One, SCRIPPS, ESPN+<\/i><\/p>\n

Location: Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n

Now, we did reference a changing of the guard of sorts in the NHL’s Eastern Conference and Atlantic Division<\/a>. Even the Boston Bruins are looking to silence the critics, with a solid 2-0 start to the season. And, surprise, surprise, amid early season injury difficulties, the Buffalo Sabres are likely in trouble already<\/a>. Furthermore, a couple teams in the Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens look fairly similar to the teams they had last year. However, where the most impact on the year-over-year change seems to be originating from, is the top end. The Lightning and the Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> are fighting hard to battle for the throne currently held by the Panthers. Meanwhile, Ottawa is pushing to show they are in the conversation as well. Hey, the win against Tampa was a good start.<\/p>\n

The Ottawa Senators Story Early On in 2025-26<\/h3>\n

Ottawa comes into this one riding the wave of a cross-state win against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Sens season opener on Thursday evening. They managed to sneak that one out 5-4. That was a wild game, with a fight between recently acquired Sens tough guy Kurtis MacDermid<\/a>, taking on a formidable foe. In fact, his opponent, Curtis Douglas<\/a>, is tied for the current tallest in the NHL with Matt Rempe<\/a> (6’9″). However, when the Sens got down to business, they ended up flipping a 3-1 deficit, into a 5-3 lead. That is before a very late second of the night by Nikita Kucherov<\/a> to make it 5-4. Moreover, that was as close as the Lightning would get as there was only 14 seconds remaining when that happened.<\/p>\n

What we want to focus on for the Sens, besides their resiliency in a comeback win on the road, was the play of their best players<\/a>. You might say, their best players outplayed the Lightning’s best. One unexpected hero ended up being Artem Zub<\/a>. Normally not known for his offensive touch, but still a top-line player. Zub scored the Sens second goal, and had a beautiful pass to Shane Pinto<\/a> for the 3-3 goal. In the end, Brady Tkachuk<\/a>, Shane Pinto<\/a>, and Jake Sanderson<\/a> joined Zub with a multi-point effort. That is a tremendous sign for Sen fans, that their big guns got firing right off the draw. Tim Stutzle<\/a>, Dylan Cozens<\/a>, and Claude Giroux<\/a> all added singles as well. So, they are humming along already. Let’s see if they can carry that momentum into South Florida Saturday night.<\/p>\n

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Our projected lines tonight in Sunrise \ud83d\udc4a#GoSensGo<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/j4e3Abjs7v<\/a><\/p>\n

— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) October 11, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n