SUNRISE, Fla. – The Florida Panthers know they’ll face one of their tougher tests of the season to date when they host the Dallas Stars at Amerant Bank Arena on Wednesday.
Entering the heavyweight matchup, the Panthers (14-8-2) sit in third place in the Atlantic Division, while the Stars (14-6-3) are holding on to second place in the Central Division.
“I’m looking forward to a good game,” forward Anton Lundell said after this morning’s skate in Sunrise. “We know they have a great team. They've got some skillful forwards and strong D. They’re a good team overall and I think it’s going to be a good game.”
After pocketing five of six points during a successful road trip to Canada, the Panthers suffered a 4-3 loss to the Islanders in their first game back home on Saturday.
Despite compiling 93 shot attempts and 47 scoring chances, the Panthers just couldn’t get enough pucks past New York goaltender Ilya Sorokin, who finished with 42 saves.
Leading the Panthers in goals (16) and points (29), Sam Reinhart opened the scoring against the Islanders, while Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe also lit the lamp.
In net, Anthony Stolarz made 23 saves.
“I think they capitalized on their opportunities,” Verhaeghe said after the loss. “We had a lot of looks. They kept us to the outside pretty good, but I think we had a lot of looks and chances to score. Their goalie played well and they were opportunistic, for sure.”
After sitting out against the Islanders due to an upper-body injury, forward Jonah Gadjovich will return to the lineup tonight. Additionally, Sergei Bobrovsky will be back in the crease after going 2-0-0 with a .976 save percentage in his last two starts.
Over his last 11 starts, Bobrovsky owns an 8-3-0 record with a pair of shutouts.
“He just stops the puck,” defenseman Aaron Ekblad chuckled when asked about Bobrovsky’s hot start to the season. “I don’t know how else to explain it. He’s very focused all the time and his preparation never changes. It’s a rhythm he gets in.”
Playing two straight games against the Panthers’ cross-state rival, the Stars followed up an 8-1 beatdown of the Lightning on Saturday with a 4-0 loss at Tampa Bay on Monday.
Shutting down Dallas, Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped all 25 shots he faced for the Bolts.
Joe Pavelski leads the Stars in goals (11) and points (24). Second in scoring, Jason Robertson has tallied 22 points (eight goals, 14 assists). Overall, eight different Dallas skaters have at least 15 points, including six players with seven goals.
In net for the Stars, Jake Oettinger has gone 10-5-2 with a .915 save percentage.
“It’s a good team,” Ekblad said. “They’re deep. They’ve got a ton of solid offensive threats and some guys that can break games open. It’s important to limit their time and space and keep doing what we’ve been doing.”
Even though each team has plenty of firepower, defense could take center stage tonight.
As it stands now, the Panthers rank fourth in the NHL in average goals allowed per game with 2.54, while the Stars sit in 10th with 2.83. Both teams also sit within the top-8 in terms of expected goals against at 5-on-5 in the NHL, per NaturalStatTrick.com.
“Similar in style,” Maurice said of the matchup. “We both have enough size and weight to grind a little bit. It’ll be hard to get to the net and should be hard to get to the net for both teams. It’ll be a tight game, but that doesn’t’ necessarily mean a low-event game. There’s enough skill on both teams that they’re going to get their chances.”
PREGAME QUOTES
“It was good. Honestly, playing every other day is nice. You get into a bit of a rhythm. You’re practicing less and feel pretty good. It was nice to get a couple days, but it’s nice to be back.” - Aaron Ekblad on having a few days off in between games
“It feels probably more like a playoff game. We like tight games. They’re a great team. We know they played good in the playoffs last year as well. I think it’s going to be a really good game today.” – Anton Lundell on his expectations for tonight’s game
FIVE CATS STATS
- Aleksander Barkov has scored 12 goals in 19 career games vs. Dallas.
- Sergei Bobrovsky boasts a career record of 16-2-2 against the Stars.
- The Panthers have killed off 27 off their last 28 penalties.
- Carter Verhaeghe leads Florida with seven third-period goals.
- The Panthers are allowing the third-fewest shots on goal per game in the NHL (27.6).
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Forwards
Evan Rodrigues – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Nick Cousins
Jonah Gadjovich – Kevin Stenlund – Ryan Lomberg
Defensemen
Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola - Brandon Montour
Oliver-Ekman Larsson – Dmitry Kulikov
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Anthony Stolarz
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
- Dec. 3: D Uvis Balinskis recalled from Charlotte (AHL)
- Dec. 1: D Uvis Balinskis loaned to Charlotte (AHL)
- Nov. 25: D Mike Reilly claimed off waivers by the New York Islanders
HOW TO WATCH
When: Wednesday, Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
TV & Streaming: TNT
Radio: 790 WAXY (Dade/Broward); 1230 WBZT (Palm Beach); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); 101.7 WCZR (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM App & Streaming 932; Panthers App
Tickets: Here
