ST. LOUIS – The Florida Panthers will try to stretch their season-long win streak to eight games when they close out their road trip with a battle against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Tuesday.
“It’s fun coming to the rink right now knowing that we’re not only going to give it our best, but we’re going to set each other up,” Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk said. “I felt like we’ve played really well this whole road trip, so hopefully we can end it off right.”
Shooting up the standings during their red-hot run, the Panthers enter tonight’s matchup with a record of 25-12-2, just three points out of first place in the Atlantic Division.
Looking for payback, Florida’s last loss prior to the streak came against St. Louis on Dec. 21 in Sunrise.
“We weren’t scoring any goals, and you could see it in our game,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said of the team's uncharacteristic play in the loss. “The cheat started to come in, and these guys don’t. They’re hard working, honest guys, but a bunch of them weren’t scoring. We were doing things with the puck that were very high risk. It was the perfect team to play against. They’re then number one rush team in the NHL. We fed their rush game and they took advantage of it. They were making three and four passing plays around our goalie. It was ugly. It was actually the best thing that could’ve happened to us.”
Learning from their mistakes, everything has clicked for the Cats during their streak.
Outscoring the opposition 31-14, they’ve surrendered two or fewer goals in five of the seven games. Standing tall on both sides of special teams, they’ve gone 10-for-31 (32.3%) on the power play and 19-for-21 (90.5%) on the penalty kill.
Heading to the 2024 NHL All-Star Game, Sam Reinhart leads the Panthers 10 goals -- including five on the power play -- during the streak. Also carrying hot sticks, Aleksander Barkov, Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe have each tallied 13 points.
At 5-on-5, the Panthers are controlling 57.58% of shot attempts during the streak.
“It’s been setting each other up and setting up the next line for success,” Tkachuk said. “There’s no ego in our room. I know I’ve said that all year. Everyone is truly in it for that main goal at the end. We’re just building our game.”
Keeping their streak alive, the Panthers put on a show during an 8-4 win at Colorado in their last outing on Saturday. After the Panthers raced out to a 3-0 lead in the first period, the Avalanche evened the score with three goals early in the second.
In the third, the Panthers tacked on four more goals to lock in the win.
Upping his team-high goal total to 28, Reinhart recorded the seventh hat trick of his career in the win over the Avalanche. Barkov assisted on all three of those goals and finished the game with four helpers, while Tkachuk notched a goal and three assists.
Touching the twine twice at Colorado, Verhaeghe has scored in each of the last five games.
“We’ve been good playing as a tight five,” Florida forward Eetu Luostarinen said.
After not playing in the third period against the Avalanche due to an upper-body injury, Panthers second-line center Sam Bennett is expected to suit up against the Blues.
In 27 games, Bennett has recorded 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) and 39 hits.
“I feel good now,” Bennett said. “No issues.”
Fifth in the Central Division at 20-17-1, the Blues have won five of their last seven games, including a 2-1 shootout win at Carolina in their last contest on Saturday.
After trading goals in the first period, neither team found the back of the net in the second or third. Following a scoreless overtime, Brayden Schenn beat Antti Raanta in the fifth round of the skills competition to give St. Louis the extra point.
In net, Jordan Binnington made 29 saves for the Blues.
“It’s fun when you’re in a rhythm like that,” Binnington told reporters after the win. “It’s nice to be winning these games against good teams.”
With the top line doing the bulk of the damage for St. Louis, Robert Thomas leads the team in scoring with 41 points (16 goals, 25 assists), while linemates Pavel Buchnevich (29 points) and Jordan Kyrou (27 points) rank second and third, respectively.
Missing a key piece on the blue line, the Blues will face the Panthers without Justin Faulk, who was placed on injured reserve on Thursday with a lower-body injury. A big minutes-eater, Faulk ranks second on the team in average ice time per game (22:25).
After backing up Binnington in each of the last two games, Joel Hofer is expected to man the crease for the Blues. In 22 appearances this season, the 23-year-old has gone 7-6-0 with a .911 save percentage.
In net for the win over the Panthers last month, Hofer stopped 37 of 38 shots.
At the other end of the ice, Anthony Stolarz will get the nod for Florida.
In 10 appearances this season, Stolarz has gone 5-3-1 with a .918 save percentage.
“We owe these guys a better game than what we gave them last time in Florida, “Tkachuk said. “They took it to us pretty good. It’s up to us. I know it’s a tough game after a few days off at the end of the road trip, but we’re going so good right now. We just have to keep it going.”
PREGAME QUOTES
“To his credit, leadership is very important to him. He came in this year and he was really responsible defensively. That’s a good thing. We want him to keep that. When you look at it, it’s not just Matthew. There’s a whole bunch of our guys that if you look at where they were last year to now in terms of the quality of their defense, it’s night and day. We’re a much better defensive team. He made those adjustments and now you can see [the offense] start to come for him. It’s been good to watch.” – Paul Maurice on Matthew Tkachuk
“It makes it easier to come to the rink when you’re winning and having a good time. For us, it’s just about putting in the work every day, preparing the right way and showing up every game. If we do that, we know that we’ll have success.” – Jonah Gadjovich on the winning streak
FIVE CATS STATS
- The Panthers are tied for first in the NHL with 13 road victories.
- Since Dec. 16, the Panthers have gone 27-of-29 (93.1%) on the penalty kill.
- Aleksander Barkov has logged multiple assists in four of his last seven games.
- Matthew Tkachuk has lit the lamp in each of his last three games.
- Carter Verhaeghe has posted at least a goal and an assist in five straight games.
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Forwards
Evan Rodrigues – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Ryan Lomberg
Jonah Gadjovich – Kevin Stenlund – Will Lockwood
Defensemen
Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Brandon Montour
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Dmitry Kulikov
Goaltenders
Anthony Stolarz
Sergei Bobrovsky
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
- Jan. 5: F Mackie Samoskevich recalled from Charlotte (AHL)
- Jan. 3: D Uvis Balinskis signed to a two-year contract extension
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
When: Tuesday, Jan. 9 at 8 p.m. ET
Where: Enterprise Center – St. Louis, MO
TV & Streaming: Bally Sports Florida, Bally Sports+
Radio: 560 WQAM (Dade/Broward); 1230 WBZT (Palm Beach); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); 101.7 WCZR (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM App & Streaming 932; Panthers App
