SoFla Guide Editors
Lars Eller picked the perfect moment to remind everyone why veterans get paid. The 37-year-old center scored the go-ahead goal at 17:37 of the third period, with just 2:23 left on the clock, to lift the Florida Panthers past the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 at United Center on October 25, 2026, according to NHL.com.
For a team that needed something good to happen on this road trip, it was a very welcome late twist.
What happened in Chicago
Florida got goals from three different players. Along with Eller’s late winner, Sandis Vilmanis and Matthew Tkachuk also found the net, NHL.com reported. Tkachuk’s goal came on the power play.
Chicago answered with goals from Ryan Greene and Roman Kantserov, according to NHL.com. That kept things tight right up until Eller stepped in.
In net, Akira Schmid made 20 saves for the Panthers. At the other end, Spencer Knight was busy, turning aside 29 shots for Chicago, per NHL.com. Knight kept his team in it for most of the night. He just could not stop the one that mattered most.
The power play story
Here is the stat Blackhawks fans will want to forget. Chicago went 0-for-7 on the power play, NHL.com reported.
Seven chances with the extra skater and nothing to show for it. In a game decided by one goal, that is the kind of detail coaches tend to replay a few times on the flight home. Credit goes to the Florida penalty kill and Schmid for holding the line every single time.
Florida, meanwhile, made its own power play count. Tkachuk’s man-advantage goal was one of only three Panthers goals on the night, so it carried real weight.
What it means for Florida
The Panthers came into this one at 5-4-2, and they had dropped the first two games of the road trip by a combined score of 9-1. That is not the kind of road trip anyone in Sunrise wants to talk about at the office on Monday.
This win changes the mood. Florida improved to 6-4-2, according to the ESPN box score. Chicago fell to 3-8-0, and NHL.com noted the Blackhawks have now lost three straight.
It was not a blowout, and it did not need to be. After getting outscored badly in back-to-back games, a gritty one-goal win on the road, sealed in the final minutes, is exactly the kind of result that can steady a team.
About that Nikishin contract
You may have seen some chatter linking the Panthers to defenseman Alexander Nikishin. To be clear: Nikishin did not sign with Florida.
According to NHL.com, the 25-year-old signed a one-year, $3 million contract with the Carolina Hurricanes on October 25, 2026, ending his restricted free agent holdout. He had missed Carolina’s first 13 games of the season.
Nikishin became a restricted free agent on July 1, 2026, and requested a trade before eventually signing with the Hurricanes, the team that drafted him in the third round, 69th overall, in 2020. He spent six seasons in the KHL before making his NHL debut in the 2025 playoffs, then helped Carolina win the Stanley Cup in 2026, recording one assist in 17 playoff games. He had 11 goals and 33 points in 81 regular-season games in 2025-26.
Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky welcomed him back in a statement reported by NHL.com: “We’re glad that Alexander is returning to our group. This has been a long process, but we look forward to him re-entering our locker room ready to contribute with the Hurricanes, as he did during a Stanley Cup championship season last year.”
So the Nikishin saga is over, and it ended in Raleigh, not South Florida.
The veteran who delivered
Eller has seen a lot of NHL hockey. Before landing in Florida, he played for the Montreal Canadiens, Washington Capitals, Colorado Avalanche, Pittsburgh Penguins and Ottawa Senators. That is a lot of locker rooms and a lot of late-game shifts.
On Saturday in Chicago, all that experience showed up exactly when the Panthers needed it. Florida fans have been waiting for a reason to exhale on this trip. Eller gave them one with 2:23 to go.
