EDMONTON – The Florida Panthers (17-10-2) will look to get the goals flowing again when they face off against the high-flying Edmonton Oilers (13-13-1) at Rogers Place on Saturday.
“We want to score goals every game and not let them score goals every game,” Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said after morning skate. “All we’ve got to do is play our own game as hard as possible. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing against.”
After coming up empty in a 4-0 loss at Seattle on Tuesday, the Panthers were once again held off the scoresheet in a 4-0 loss at Vancouver on Thursday. While the score was the same in both games, the nature of each loss was actually quite a bit different.
In Seattle, the Panthers trailed only 1-0 after 40 minutes until the Kraken tacked on three more goals in the third period. A hard-fought loss, the Panthers were in the game the entire night and had more than a few opportunities to turn the tide in their favor.
As for Vancouver, head coach Paul Maurice used the word “unusual” multiple times to describe what he saw after the loss. If you watched the game, you likely agree with that assessment. Not as buttoned up in both ends as they usually are, the Panthers made some uncharacteristic mistakes, fell behind 2-0 in the first period and simply couldn't find a way out of that early hole.
Even when they did get a good look, Thatcher Demko came up with a big save for the Canucks.
The Panthers were also forced to shuffle their lines both before and during the game. Anton Lundell and Jonah Gadjovich both missed the game due to an illness, while Sam Bennett missed some time after taking a puck to the face in the second period.
Aaron Ekblad also sat out the third period due to a lower-body injury.
“We did unusual things that we just don’t do,” Maurice said after the loss. “You saw kind of the pinnacle on the 3-0 goal. We just weren’t right tonight. I think you have those games. I don’t think it’s related to the Seattle game. Prior to that, we’d won three in a row. We weren’t very good here tonight, but in a highly unusual way.”
But even when things aren’t smooth, the underlying numbers are still strong.
Despite being shut out, Florida has accrued 5.97 expected goals over its last two games.
“Just keep doing what we do,” Barkov said of breaking through. “Just have more guys at the net, try to keep things a little more simple, not to make whole plays and hold on to the pucks and stuff like that. It’ll come. We just need to work a little harder.”
Sam Reinhart leads the Panthers in goals (17), assists (20) and points (37). An early favorite for the Selke Trophy, Barkov, who won the award as the NHL’s top-defensive forward once already, has amassed 28 points (10 goals, 18 assists) and a +19 rating.
With Lundell and Gadjovich both expected to miss a second straight game, the Panthers sent defenseman Uvis Balinskis to the AHL on Friday and recalled forward Will Lockwood, who’s suited up in seven NHL games this season, on Saturday.
Ekblad will be held out against the Oilers for precautionary reasons, which means that Josh Mahura will get back on the blue line for the first time since suffering an injury on Nov. 16.
At this point of the road trip, both Lockwood and Mahura should provide a nice spark.
“Lockwood has speed, for sure,” Maurice said. “That’s what he’s selling. The conversation with him is free your mind of mistakes. Stop worrying about that stuff. You’re a smart kid, you know the systems, just go skate as fast as you can.
“Mahura’s a veteran guy. He played every game for us last year straight through the playoffs. He played well. He got jammed out of the lineup. We got pretty deep there for a little bit, and now he comes back in. … We expect him to be right on tonight.”
Finding their footing after a slow start out of the gate, the Oilers had their eight-game winning streak snapped with a 7-4 loss to the Lightning in their last outing on Thursday.
Trailing 2-0 after the first period, the Oilers took the lead in the second on goals from Darnell Nurse, Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman. In the third, they were outscored by Tampa Bay 5-1, with three of those goals coming from the stick of Steven Stamkos.
Keeping Edmonton at bay, Andrei Vasilevskiy made 53 saves for the Lightning.
“We created a lot more chances,” Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl told reporters. “We played a really good game. Eight times out of 10, nine out of 10, we probably win.”
Prior to that loss, Edmonton had given up just 13 goals in its previous eight games.
Leading the Oilers in scoring with 40 points (11 goals, 29 assists), McDavid enters tonight’s matchup on a sizzling 11-game point streak. During that hot stretch, the three-time Hart Trophy winner has touched the twine seven times and dished out 20 assists.
Draisaitl ranks second on the team with 33 points (12 goals, 21 assists), while Evan Bouchard is third with 32 points (eight goals, 24 assists). Of Bouchard’s 32 points, 16 have come on the power play, which is tied for the most among NHL defensemen.
Starting 20 of the team’s first 27 games – including nine of the last 10 – Stuart Skinner will get a breather for the Oilers tonight as backup Calvin Pickard will get the nod in net.
In two games this season, Pickard is 1-1-0 with a .917 save percentage.
Facing off for the second and final time this season, the Panthers topped the Oilers 5-3 in their first meeting on Nov. 20 at Amerant Bank Arena. Niko Mikkola led Florida with the first multi-goal game of his career, while Kevin Stenlund posted a goal and two assists.
For Edmonton, Pickard gave up four goals on 32 shots.
“We’ve got a pretty good team here, too,” Maurice said. “We’ve got to make hay when the sun shines. We’ve got to work real hard. I like our game we played against them at home. We’ve got a little different lineup tonight. We know they’re good and they’re rolling.”
PREGAME QUOTES
“We have an expectation that he’d be ready for Calgary, and then if not certainly St. Louis. We want to be on top of it, get rid of it.” –\ Paul Maurice on Aaron Ekblad’s injury status
“Every game for us is big. We want to be very good defensively every game. It doesn’t matter who we played against. We know who we’re going to play against tonight, so we’ve got to be extra ready and defend really well.” – Aleksander Barkov on facing the Oilers
“Play with pace. Create, create, create. Defend, defend, defend. We know the skill level they have over there. Minimize their chances and create more for us.” – Sam Reinhart on the keys against Edmonton
FIVE CATS STATS
- Nikko Mikkola is expected to skate in his 200th NHL game.
- Sam Reinhart has logged 12 points (4G, 8A) over his last nine games.
- Sam Bennett leads the Panthers with a 61.71 CF% at 5-on-5.
- Matthew Tkachuk ranks second on Florida with five multi-assist games.
- The Panthers rank third in the NHL with 33.7 shots on goal per game.
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Forwards
Evan Rodrigues – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Kevin Stenlund – Nick Cousins
Ryan Lomberg – Steven Lorentz – Will Lockwood
Defensemen
Gustav Forsling – Oliver-Ekman Larsson
Niko Mikkola – Brandon Montour
Josh Mahura – Dmitry Kulikov
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Anthony Stolarz
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
- Dec. 16: F Will Lockwood recalled from Charlotte (AHL)
- Dec. 15: Uvis Balinskis loaned to Charlotte (AHL)
- Dec. 7: F Josh Davies signed to a three-year, entry-level contract
HOW TO WATCH
When: Saturday, Dec. 16 at 10 p.m. ET
Where: Rogers Place – Edmonton, AB
TV & Streaming: Bally Sports Florida, Bally Sports+
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
