The Florida Panthers raise the Stanley Cup banner and face the Boston Bruins on opening night

Florida Panthers opening night is finally here.

As the NHL's reigning Stanley Cup champions, the Panthers will be featured in prime time on the league's first official game day (in North America).

Florida hosts the Boston Bruins at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise at 7 p.m.

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Before the game, the Panthers will raise their first Stanley Cup Championship banner from the rafters above the ice, in what is expected to be a special and emotional ceremony for many of the longtime fans and team employees who will be in the building.

“It will be exciting,” said Panthers captain Sasha Barkov.

On Monday evening, Barkov and his teammates, as well as coaches, front office managers and other staff, received their Stanley Cup championship rings at a private ceremony in Fort Lauderdale.

The event was originally scheduled to take place at Amerant Bank Arena and be open to fans, but the looming threat of Hurricane Milton caused the Panthers to change their plans.

After a summer of cheering and celebrating in the shared rearview mirror, championship rings on fingers and a banner hoisted across the ice, it's truly time for Barkov and the Panthers to start looking ahead to the season ahead.

“We deserve to celebrate this great success all summer long,” said Barkov. “Now we can finally play again and fight for victory.”

Here's what Florida's forwards are expected to look like Tuesday against Boston:

Carter Verhaeghe – Sasha Barkov – Sam Reinhart

Evan Rodrigues-Sam Bennett-Matthew Tkachuk

Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Mackie Samoskevich

Jonah Gadjovich – Jesper Boqvist – AJ Greer

Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad

Niko Mikkola – Dmitry Kulikov

Nate Schmidt-Adam Boqvist

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Three takeaways: Samoskevich looks good on the third line, the Panthers are mostly healthy coming out of the preseason