Florida Panthers Anton Lundell had a blunt warning about Buffalo's star forward
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Jonathan Ouimet
Jan 12, 2026 (2:46 PM)
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Photo credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images
Florida Panthers, Tage Thompson, and Sergei Bobrovsky collide Monday, and Anton Lundell is already sounding the alarm.
Lundell called Thompson a rare mix of tall, skilled, and fast, and said Florida has to treat him like a superstar. The message was simple, know where he is, and do not let him get comfortable.
Lundell on Tage Thompson: "There's not a lot of guys that are that tall, that skilled and that fast. He's just good overall. Just need to treat him as a superstar and be aware of where he is on the ice. His shot is great, so we don't want him to shoot too much.»
Thompson has 22 goals and 41 points in 43 games, and he's doing it with a shot that comes off his blade like a jump scare. He's 6-foot-6 and was drafted 26th overall by the St. Louis Blues in 2016.
This is also a rough spot for Florida because the lineup is still patched together. Brad Marchand has been dealing with an undisclosed injury, and Seth Jones is expected to miss a couple of weeks.
If the Panthers want Bobrovsky to look calm, they have to make his reads clean. That means tight gaps on Thompson, sticks inside the lane, and a defenseman ready to clear the blue paint before rebounds become chaos.
Anton Lundell spotlights Tage Thompson threat
As a Panthers fan, I love the honesty, because you can't fake respect for a shooter like that.
The key is forcing Thompson to the outside without giving him the middle back on the next touch. Buffalo loves finding him late in the seam, and one clean look can flip the whole building.
Florida also has to win the «first save» game for Bobrovsky. If he sees it, he usually handles it, but if Thompson is allowed to fire through layered screens, it turns into guesswork.
Lundell's role matters because he's one of Florida's best detail centers, and this is a detail night. Track Thompson through changes, communicate on handoffs, and do not let him drift into that soft space above the circles.
Contain Thompson and the Panthers' win odds jump, even in a loud KeyBank Center. Let him shoot too much, and you're chasing the game, which is the last thing a banged-up roster needs.
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| POLL | ||
JANVIER 12 | 12 ANSWERS Florida Panthers Anton Lundell had a blunt warning about Buffalo's star forward Can the Florida Panthers contain Tage Thompson enough to win Monday? | ||
| Yes contain | 9 | 75 % |
| No chance | 0 | 0 % |
| Need power play | 1 | 8.3 % |
| Bobrovsky steals | 2 | 16.7 % |
| List of polls | ||