New York Rangers vs. Florida Panthers 2026 NHL Winter Classic Prediction, Odds
The 2026 Winter Classic is headed to sunny Miami where the Florida Panthers will host the New York Rangers at LoanDepot Park, home of MLB’s Miami Marlins.
Both teams sit outside of the playoff picture and could use a bounce back win to kick off the new year. The Panthers closed out 2025 with a 3-2 overtime loss against Montreal on Tuesday, while New York is coming off a third straight loss, 6-3 in Washington on Wednesday.
Florida is a -145 favourite to win on the NHL odds, with the total set at 5.5.
Rangers vs. Panthers NHL Betting Odds
It’s been mostly Cats dominance in recent years, with the Panthers winning five of the last six head-to-heads. Florida also comes in 6-2 straight up in their last eight games against Eastern Conference opponents and they’ve won five straight against the Metropolitan Division.
When it comes to totals betting, the Panthers have hit the Over in five of their last six games, while the Under has cashed in nine of the Rangers’ last 13.
That might be contradictory, but you can throw that data out the window as this is an outdoor game and it safe to say the potential of sloppy, melting, ice conditions in Miami could slow down the style of play.
As it stands, the temperature is expected to reach a high of 21°C in Miami on Friday, dipping to 17°C by puck drop at 8 p.m ET, making this possibly the warmest region the NHL has ever held an outdoor game in.
For what it’s worth, there were outdoor games in Santa Clara, California in February 2015 and Dallas, Texas in January 2021 and both games finished Under the total. Miami averages much warmer weather than Santa Clara and Dallas this time of year.
New York is 4-0 all-time in outdoor games, winning all four on the road. This will be Florida’s first outdoor game in franchise history.
New York Rangers
Adam Fox made his return from injury on Wednesday, but his contribution of a goal and an assist wasn’t enough to avoid a third straight loss for the Rangers. New York has been wildly inconsistent this season, posting a 5-10-3 home record and a 14-8-2 road record. Sitting three points out of a wild-card spot, they are in a tough position as they need to leapfrog six teams in the standings and they’ve played roughly three to four games more than most of those teams.
It should be star goaltender Igor Shesterkin between the pipes for the Blueshirts on Friday. Shesterkin turned aside 31 of 34 shots faced last time out in a 3-2 overtime loss against Carolina on Monday. The 30-year-old is 16-12-4 with a 2.51 goals-against average and .910 save percentage this season.
Florida Panthers
Recently named to Team Canada’s 2026 Olympic roster, Brad Marchand and Sam Reinhart had the goals in Florida’s overtime loss against Montreal. The loss spoiled a pre-game celebration of Marchand’s 1,000th career point. There was a little bit of a stir with the return of Matthew Tkachuk to practice this week, however the agitator will not make his season-debut on Friday.
The Panthers are expected to counter with 37-year-old Sergei Bobrovsky in net on Friday. Bobrovsky has benefitted from significant goal support recently, going 7-1-0 over his last eight starts despite posting a below average 2.72 GAA and .891 SV. For the year, he is 17-9-1 with a 2.80 GAA and .888 SV.
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