SUNRISE, Fla. — Aaron Ekblad brought the Stanley Cup to the ice pregame Tuesday. Moments later, the Florida Panthers watched as their second championship banner rose into the rafters at Amerant Bank Arena.

“We want three!” the sold-out home crowd chanted.

Their quest to do just that is starting on the right note.

Jesper Boqvist scored the game-winning goal with 10:20 left in regulation as the Panthers opened the 2025-26 season with a 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday at Amerant Bank Arena.

A.J. Greer and Carter Verhaeghe also scored for Florida, while Mackie Samoskevich had a pair of primary assists. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 18 of 20 shots he faced.

Boqvist, who signed a two-year contract extension with Florida midway through last season, scored on a pass from Samoskevich from across the goalie crease, batting the puck past Chicago goaltender Spencer Knight.

Florida (1-0-0) fell behind 1-0 10:03 into regulation when Frank Nazar scored on a breakaway. Greer and Verhaeghe then scored 3:02 apart — Greer on a wrist shot off a Jonah Gadjovich pass from the slot, Verhaeghe on a snap shot from up close on the power play — to take a 2-1 lead.

The Blackhawks (0-1-0) tied the game 1:09 into the second when Teuvo Teravainen took advantage of a 2-on-1 rush to beat Bobrovsky with a wrist shot before Boqvist gave Florida the lead for good.

Bobrovsky stopped the final 15 shots he faced to pick up his 430th career win, seven shy of tying Jacques Plante for ninth overall in NHL history.

It wasn’t the prettiest of performances, especially against a Blackhawks team expected to be among the NHL’s worst this season, but the Panthers aren’t expecting things to be easy this year. They’re playing at least the regular season without captain and top-line center Aleksander Barkov and multiple months without star winger Matthew Tkachuk.

They will be tested all season.

They passed their first one on Tuesday.

The Panthers continue their season-opening homestand Thursday against the Philadelphia Flyers.

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