Panthers Face Blue Jackets as NHL Frozen Frenzy Puts All 32 Teams on Ice

Florida’s Frozen Frenzy assignment arrives at a useful moment: the Panthers need a response after two straight losses, and they’ll get an early look at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday. The 6:15 p.m. ET matchup is one of 16 games featuring every NHL team, with puck drops staggered through the night.

The Panthers enter at 2-2-2 after losing their home opener to Minnesota on Saturday and falling to Buffalo on Monday. Captain Aleksander Barkov and Brad Marchand are out, while head coach Paul Maurice said goaltender Jacob Markström wasn’t injured after leaving Monday’s game following the first period. Markström had said something “tightened up”; Maurice called it “standard stuff.”

Columbus is 2-2-0 and has alternated wins and losses through its first four games. The Blue Jackets most recently lost to St. Louis on Saturday. Florida’s immediate challenge is clear: find a way to halt the skid against a team that has been difficult to read from one game to the next.

All 16 Frozen Frenzy matchups

Tuesday marks the fourth annual Frozen Frenzy and the sixth time in NHL history that all 32 teams have played on the same night. The first game starts at 6 p.m. ET, with most opening puck drops arriving at 15-minute intervals through 9 p.m. Three later games extend the schedule to an 11 p.m. finish. All times below are Eastern Daylight Time; records are as listed in the source schedule.

• 6:00 p.m.: New Jersey Devils (2-3-0) at Detroit Red Wings (1-3-1)
• 6:15 p.m.: Florida Panthers (2-2-2) at Columbus Blue Jackets (2-2-0)
• 6:30 p.m.: Buffalo Sabres (3-3-0) at Montreal Canadiens (2-2-1)
• 6:45 p.m.: Washington Capitals (3-2-0) at Carolina Hurricanes (5-1-1)
• 7:00 p.m.: Seattle Kraken (4-2-0) at Philadelphia Flyers (0-5-2)
• 7:15 p.m.: Tampa Bay Lightning (4-1-0) at New York Rangers (5-2-0)
• 7:30 p.m.: St. Louis Blues (2-2-1) at Ottawa Senators (5-1-0)
• 7:45 p.m.: Vancouver Canucks (2-5-0) at New York Islanders (2-3-0)
• 8:00 p.m.: Pittsburgh Penguins (3-2-1) at Chicago Blackhawks (1-5-0)
• 8:15 p.m.: Minnesota Wild (4-1-1) at Winnipeg Jets (3-1-1)
• 8:30 p.m.: Colorado Avalanche (3-2-0) at Dallas Stars (2-2-1)
• 8:45 p.m.: Vegas Golden Knights (5-2-0) at Nashville Predators (2-1-2)
• 9:00 p.m.: Toronto Maple Leafs (3-2-1) at Utah Mammoth (4-2-0)
• 9:45 p.m.: Calgary Flames (0-5-0) at Anaheim Ducks (4-1-0)
• 10:30 p.m.: Edmonton Oilers (4-0-1) at Los Angeles Kings (0-2-2)
• 11:00 p.m.: Boston Bruins (4-2-0) at San Jose Sharks (3-2-0)

Games to watch around the league

Florida’s previous opponent, Buffalo, heads to Montreal at 6:30 p.m. The following game brings Alex Ovechkin to Raleigh for a meeting with the reigning Stanley Cup champion Hurricanes. Ovechkin has just scored his 930th goal, according to the source article, giving that matchup another notable storyline.

Seattle visits Philadelphia at 7 p.m., with the Flyers still seeking their first win of the season. Calgary, which has yet to earn a point, faces Anaheim at 9:45 p.m. The Flames will be looking to turn around a difficult opening stretch against a Ducks team listed at 4-1-0.

The middle of the schedule features a Central Division matchup when Colorado visits Dallas at 8:30 p.m. Both clubs enter with records above .500 by points percentage, and the game is part of ESPN’s national triple-header. That broadcast begins with New Jersey at Detroit, continues with Avalanche-Stars, and closes with Boston at San Jose.

Where to watch

ESPN will carry the three-game national package. ESPN2, Disney+ and the ESPN app will provide access to the rest of the slate, according to the source article. In Canada, Sportsnet+ subscribers will have the three ESPN broadcasts along with regional coverage for selected Canadian teams.

The listed Canadian regional channels are TSN2 and RDS for Montreal, TSN5 and RDS1 for Ottawa, TSN4 for Toronto, TSN3 for Winnipeg, SNW for Calgary, SN1 for Edmonton and SNP for Vancouver.

Florida’s record on all-team nights

The Panthers are 3-2-0 in games played on nights when all 32 NHL teams are in action. Their five previous results in the source record span three seasons: Florida beat Washington 4-2 on the road on April 8, 2023, and defeated San Jose 3-1 at home on Oct. 24, 2023. The Panthers then lost 5-1 to Minnesota at home on Oct. 22, 2024.

Florida’s 2025 results on those nights split evenly. The Panthers beat Ottawa 6-2 at home on Oct. 11, then lost 3-2 to Anaheim at home on Oct. 28. Tuesday’s trip to Columbus gives them a chance to add a win to that record while addressing the two-game slide.

Next all-team date

The next scheduled night with all 32 teams playing comes on the final day of the 2026-27 season, Saturday, April 10, 2027. Florida is slated to host Carolina at 6 p.m. ET. For now, the immediate focus is Columbus: a strong start to Tuesday’s early game could help the Panthers steady their season before the league-wide schedule takes over the evening.