Game at Caps on national television

The Florida Panthers, often overlooked when it comes to nationally televised games, will make a scheduled appearance on NBC Sports Network when they visit the Washington Capitals on Oct. 21.

The Capitals are twotime Metropolitan Division champions and have won the President’s Trophy for the past two seasons with a league-leading 118 and 120 points respectively. However, they have been eliminated in the second round of the playoffs in both seasons by the reigning twotime Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.

After posting a franchiserecord 103-point season and capturing the Atlantic Division title in 2015-16 the Panthers regressed last season with just 81 points and sixth-place finish in the division.

In the offseason, the Panthers hired former San Jose Sharks assistant Bob Boughner as their head coach, along with a new coaching staff, including former New York Islanders coach Jack Capuano, former Kingston Frontenacs (OHL) coach Paul McFarland and assistant Ben Cooper, who specializes in video analysis.

As for personnel changes, the Panthers’ roster will no longer include top-nine forwards Reilly Smith, Jonathan Marchessault, Jussi Jokinen, Jaromir Jagr and Thomas Vanek. And fourthline forward Shawn Thornton retired.

The Panthers kept their top-six defensive core intact with Aaron Ekblad, Mike Matheson, Jason Demers, Mark Pysyk, Alex Petrovic and Keith Yandle.