Club’s 2017-18 schedule includes 1st Vegas trip

The Florida Panthers will travel to Las Vegas to play hockey for the first time in franchise history when they take on the Vegas Golden Knights and former teammates, Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith, on Dec. 17.

The Panthers will face Vegas again at home Jan. 19.

Florida’s 2017-18 schedule was released Thursday, and it will begin with their first of 14 back-to-back sets when the Panthers visit the Tampa Bay Lightning on Oct. 6, and zip over Alligator Alley to the BB&T Center for their home opener Oct. 7.

As usual the Panthers are home for the bulk of the holidays, hosting the Auston Matthews-led Maple Leafs and Blackhawks during Thanksgiving week Nov. 22 and 25. They have a four-game holiday homestand against the Wild (Dec. 22), Senators (Dec. 23), Flyers (Dec. 28) and Canadiens (Dec. 30).

The Panthers host a sixgame homestand, the season’s longest, from Feb. 22 to March 4 against Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals, Sidney Crosby and Stanley Cup champion Penguins, the Leafs, Devils, Sabres and Flyers.

They’ll end the season with four games at home against the Hurricanes, Stanley Cup finalist Predators, the Bruins and the finale vs. the Sabres on April 7.

The Panthers finished with a 35-36-11 record last season — sixth in the Atlantic Division — and failed to make the playoffs after losing in the first round in 2015-16.