LOS ANGELES – The Cats are hot!
Picking up wins in each of their last five games, the Florida Panthers will try to keep the good times rolling when they clash with the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena on Thursday.
Sitting at 10-4-1, the Panthers have scored at least four goals in every game during their streak.
“I think this is going to be a good one,” Cats head coach Paul Maurice said. “We’re looking forward to it being very fast. The ice was great this morning. It should be a hell of a game.”
Keeping their streak alive, the Panthers came from behind to secure a 5-3 win in San Jose on Tuesday. Leading 2-1 after two periods, the Panthers quickly fell behind 3-2 in the third period after the Sharks scored on the power play and then on a delayed penalty within a span of 1:10.
But less than three minutes after Luke Kunin sent the Sharks ahead, Carter Verhaeghe tied the game for the Panthers with a goal on the power play that made it 3-3. Just 1:03 later, Kevin Stenlund stuck out his stick in the slot and tipped in a shot from Uvis Balinskis to give the Panthers a 4-3 lead.
With 2:13 left in regulation, captain Aleksander Barkov made it 5-3 with an empty-net goal.
“[The Sharks] played a good game,” said Panthers forward Ryan Lomberg, who scored the team’s first goal of the game in the first period. “For us, we’ve got to learn to play in tight games, protecting the lead, chasing the lead, stuff like that. It’s good that we got the job done.”
Named the NHL’s First Star of the Week on Monday, Sam Reinhart logged a goal and an assist in the win to earn his fifth straight multi-point game. Leading the Panthers in goals (12) and points (23), the 28-year-old forward has notched multiple points in 10 of 15 games thus far.
Tallying two assists in San Jose, Matthew Tkachuk extended his point streak to seven games.
After backing up Anthony Stolarz against the Sharks, Sergei Bobrovsky will return to the crease for the Panthers. Off to a solid 8-3-1 start, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner has won each of his past five starts and backstopped Florida to least one point in each of his last seven appearances.
No other lineup changes are expected for the Panthers, but Maurice noted the returns of Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montor, who are both recovering from offseason surgeries, are fast approaching.
As it stands now, it appears that at least one of them could be on the ice against the Ducks on Friday.
"We'll make a decision on whether they play tomorrow,” Maurice said. “It’s that close now.”
After stringing together four straight wins, the Kings have lost each of their last two games, including a 4-2 loss to the Flyers on Saturday. In that defeat, Carl Grundstrom and Adrian Kempe each scored against Philadelphia, while Cam Talbot surrendered four goals on 26 shots.
Riding a nine-game point streak, Kempe leads Los Angeles in scoring with 16 points (7G, 9A). Right behind him, Anze Kopitar and Kevin Fiala are tied for second with 14 points each. Starting to come into his own, Quinton Byfield, the second-overall pick in 2020, has 13 points (2G, 11A).
Talbot has earned the bulk of the starts for the Kings, posting a 7-3-1 record with a .923 save percentage over 11 appearances. Backing him up, Pheonix Copley has struggled out of the gate, going 1-0-2 with a .792 save percentage while allowing at least four goals in two of four starts.
While most teams have a home-ice advantage, the Kings have been loving life on the road.
Third in the Pacific Division with a record of 8-3-3, they’ve gone a perfect 7-0-0 on the road, but just 1-3-3 in Los Angeles. Over those seven games in their own barn, they’ve been outscored 28-23 while converting on just 12.5% of their power plays. On the road, they’ve led 33-12 in goals.
“Statistically, we’re very similar,” Maurice said. “I think the shots, for and against, are almost identical for both teams. Really strong down the middle. The addition of Pierre-Luc Dubois changes them. They’ve got two really big men in the middle of the ice. … I’d like to think that this gets to a pretty good defensive struggle, which has been out strength even with our injuries.”
Last season, the Panthers lost both of their meetings with the Kings.
“We’ve got to start fast,” Lomberg said. “They’re going to come ready to play.”
PREGAME QUOTES
“Our forecheck is right. At the end of the day, it’s what we do. We get in and on pucks. We make good decisions through the neutral zone not to slow our game down. Take our rush chances when they come, but we don’t live off it anymore. Then get in and get on that forecheck.” – Paul Maurice on the forecheck leading the way this season
“We’re winning the close ones. We’re finding a way to get it done. We’ve found ourselves behind in the last couple games and we’ve been able to get the wins. It’s nice to get those this time of the year and build confidence.” – Ryan Lomberg on Florida’s winning streak
“All points are the same. Even when we play a team like San Jose, we still want to be sharp. We’ve done a good job of picking up points here.” – Gustav Forsling on getting wins early in the season
FIVE CATS STATS
- Carter Verhaeghe has scored in each of the last three games.
- Oliver Ekman-Larsson leads Florida’s defensemen in goals (4) and points (10).
- Since Oct. 15, Sam Reinhart is tied for first in the NHL in goals (11) and points (21).
- Aleksander Barkov has logged 16 points (7G, 9A) in 14 career games vs. the Kings.
- Florida ranks fourth in the NHL with 27 goals in the month of November.
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Forwards
Evan Rodrigues – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Nick Cousins
Ryan Lomberg – Kevin Stenlund – Steven Lorentz
Defensemen
Gustav Forsling – Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Niko Mikkola – Dmitry Kulikov
Josh Mahura – Uvis Balinskis
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Anthony Stolarz
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
- Nov. 13: F William Lockwood loaned to Charlotte (AHL)
- Nov. 11: F Rasmus Asplund loaned to Charlotte (AHL)
- Nov. 7: F Jonah Gadjovich loaned to Charlotte (AHL) on conditioning assignment
HOW TO WATCH
When: Thursday, Nov. 16 at 10:30 p.m. ET
Where: Crypto.com Arena – Los Angeles, CA
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
