SUNRISE, Fla. – After a busy day of wheeling and dealing, the Florida Panthers will host the Calgary Flames for a post-deadline battle at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET.
Loading up for a playoff push over the last few days, the Panthers have recently acquired forwards Vladimir Tarasenko and Kyle Okposo in trades, while also picking up defenseman Tobias Bjornfot, a first-round pick back in 2019, off waivers from the Vegas Golden Knights.
Additionally, they also gave top-pair defenseman Gustav Forsling an eight-year contract extension and re-upped physical fourth-line forward Jonah Gadjovich for two more years.
“I really want to win a Stanley Cup,” Forsling said after signing his new long-term deal on Wednesday. “This is probably one of the best teams in the league. This is where I have the best chance to win for years to come. I think we have a really good team. That’s exciting.”
At the moment, the Panthers are, in fact, the best team in the NHL.
Winning 16 of their last 19 games, the Panthers, who are the only team in the league to hit the 90-point mark thus far, sit atop the standings at 43-17-4. In that stellar 19-game stretch, they’ve outscored the opposition 68-32 while also cashing in on 36.5% of their power plays.
Suffering just their third loss since Jan. 22, the Panthers saw their six-game winning streak snapped with a 2-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers in their last outing on Thursday. Tied 1-1 late in regulation, Garnet Hathaway scored with 22 seconds left to send the Flyers ahead.
Their fourth game in six nights – and first game back in Sunrise after a perfect 3-0-0 road trip against a trio of tough opponents – it’s no surprise the Panthers lacked a little jump.
“I thought our mindset was originally right,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said following the loss. “I thought we did a pretty good job grinding it through. It was that kind of game. We knew going in that it wasn’t going to be easy for us. It didn’t look like we had a lot in the tank.”
With some time to recharge, expect a much sharper game for the Cats this afternoon.
Sam Reinhart leads the Panthers in goals (45) and points (75). Producing six multi-point performances in his last 13 games, Matthew Tkachuk ranks second in scoring with 71 points (21 goals, 50 assists). Third in scoring, Carter Verhaeghe has 64 points (30 goals, 34 assists).
Standing tall between the pipes for the Panthers, Sergei Bobrovsky, who’s allowed two or fewer goals in each of his last 12 appearances, has gone 31-12-2 with a .918 save percentage. Backing him up, Anthony Stolarz owns a 12-5-2 record with a .921 save percentage.
The Panthers are expected to announce their starting goaltender around 1:30 p.m. ET.
Six points out of a wild-card spot in the Western Conference with a game in hand, the Flames have fought their way back into contention by winning six of their last seven games to improve to 31-26-5.
Sellers at the deadline, they shipped two of their top defensemen out of town. Noah Hanifin went to Vegas, while Chris Tanev was dealt to the Dallas Stars. That being said, they did end up holding onto their best weapon this season, goaltender Jacob Markstrom, despite drawing interest.
Taking care of business against the Tampa Bay Lightning in their last outing, Yegor Sharangovich racked up two goals and two assists to lead the Flames to a 6-3 win. Former Panther Jonathan Huberdeau also dished out a pair of assists in the win, while Markstrom stopped 19 of 22 shots.
“I thought we had a really good team effort (Thursday), everyone chipped in,” Flames defenseman Oliver Kylington told the team’s official website following Friday’s practice in South Florida. “We relied on what we’re good at. We stuck to our game plan, and I think that helped us win, for sure.”
Nazem Kadri leads Calgary in scoring with 54 points (22 goals, 32 assists). Blake Coleman ranks just behind him with 48 points (26 goals, 22 assists), while Sharangovich is third with 45 points (25 goals, 20 assists). Sitting in fourth, Huberdeau has accumulated 40 points (nine goals, 31 assists).
Markstrom, a former Panther, has gone 22-16-2 with a .911 save percentage.
In the middle of the pack at both ends of the ice, the Flames rank 15th on offense (3.18 goals per game) and 17th on defense (3.06 goals allowed per game) in the NHL. While their power play (14.4%, 30th) leaves a lot to be desired, their penalty kill (83.6%, 4th) has been very solid.
Wrapping up their season series, the Flames topped the Panthers 3-1 in their previous meeting back on Dec. 18 at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Reinhart scored the lone goal for Florida in the loss -- a first-period strike on the man advantage -- as Markstrom stopped 33 of 34 shots that came his way.
Stay tuned to @JamesonCoop on X for lineup information following Maurice’s pre-game availability.
As a reminder, it’s Kids Day at Amerant Bank Arena!
Bring the family and join in on the fun with Stanley C. Panther and a few special guests.
PREGAME QUOTES
“I’m thrilled that he’s on board. We’re just going to keep plugging away here, try to get the guys signed up and keep the core together. I think it’s a wonderful first step.” – Bill Zito on extending Gustav Forsling
“He’s been unreal the whole time I’ve been here in Florida. been a pleasure to watch him play and work on and off the ice. He’s one of the hardest working guys on the team. It’s the reason he’s the most fit guy on the team, too.” – Anton Lundell on Gustav Forsling
FIVE CATS STATS
- The Panthers are scoring on 27% of their power plays at home.
- Gustav Forsling ranks first in the NHL with a +44 plus/minus rating.
- Aleksander Barkov is winning a team-high 55.7% of his faceoffs.
- Ryan Lomberg has dished out a team-leading 152 hits.
- Matthew Tkachuk ranks fourth in the NHL in power-play assists (17).
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Forwards
Vladimir Tarasenko – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Evan Rodrigues
Nick Cousins – Kevin Stenlund – Ryan Lomberg
Defensemen
Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Brandon Montour
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Dmitry Kulikov
Goaltenders
Anthony Stolarz
Sergei Bobrovsky
RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
- March 8: F Kyle Okposo acquired from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for a 2024 conditional 7th round pick and D Calle Sjalin.
- March 8: G Magnus Hellberg acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for G Ludovic Waeber and a 2025 conditional 7th round pick.
- March 8: Claimed D Tobias Bjornfot off waivers from the Vegas Golden Knights.
- March 7: D Gustav Forsling signed to an 8-year extension commencing in 2024-25.
- March 7: F Jonah Gadjovich signed to a 2-year extension commencing in 2024-25.
- March 6: F Vladimir Tarasenko acquired from the Ottawa Senators.
- March 2: F Sandis Vilmanis signed to 3-year ELC commencing in 2024-25.
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
When: Saturday, March 9 at 4 p.m. ET
Where: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
TV & Streaming: Bally Sports Florida, Bally Sports+
Radio: 790 WAXY (Dade/Broward); 92.1 WZZR (Palm Beach); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); 101.7 WCZR (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM App & Streaming 932; Panthers App
Tickets: Click Here
