SUNRISE, Fla. – Right back at it.
Nearly 24 hours after their game in Washington against the Capitals, the Florida Panthers (42-25-3) will host the Pittsburgh Penguins (29-32-10) at Amerant Bank Arena on Sunday at 6 p.m. ET.
“We’re definitely not taking these games lightly,” said Sam Bennett. “These are important games to prepare the right way for playoffs.”
Falling 6-3 to the Capitals Saturday night, the Panthers will now transition from Alex Ovechkin to Sidney Crosby.
“Obviously they’re legends in the game,” Bennett said on playing Ovechkin and Crosby. “It’s always pretty cool to look over and play against legends, but when the game is going on you don’t really think about it too much.”
Playing for the third and final time this regular season, the Panthers and Penguins have each taken a game and required extra time to do so.
On Dec. 3, the Penguins withstood a three-goal third period from the Panthers and won 5-4 in overtime.
A month later, on Jan. 3, Pittsburgh’s Rickard Rakell evened the score with less than a minute to play before the Panthers would eventually win 3-2 in a shootout.
With 12 games to go and a tight race for both the Atlantic Division and Wild Card, the stakes have become even higher.
Despite going 2-4-0 on their latest six-game road trip, the Panthers still hold the top spot in the Atlantic Division with the Toronto Maple Leafs with 87 points and remain two points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“Whoever is in the lineup just has to do their job,” said Jonah Gadjovich. “We all know how to play. We all know Panther hockey and what’s expected of us. We still got to win these games.”
Returning to Amerant Bank Arena for the first time in over two weeks, the Panthers have given the home crowd plenty to cheer about while in Sunrise.
In their last 11 home games, the Panthers are 10-1-0 and have outscored their opponents 39-11.
During that same stretch, the team has posted five shutouts.
Stepping up when under pressure, the Panthers penalty kill has been successful at a 90.3% rate while at home this season.
Leading the scoresheet at home, both Aleksander Barkov (36 points) and Sam Reinhart (35 points) are clicking at over a point-per-game pace in Florida.
With no morning skate, stay tuned for more information on which goalie is starting tonight ahead of puck drop.
Coming in desperate for points to stay in the race, the Penguins sit seven points out of the second wild card spot.
Winners in five of their last six games, Pittsburgh most recently topped the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-3 on Friday.
In the win, Crosby recorded his 25th goal of the season.
Atop the leaderboard as he has for nearly two decades, “Sid the Kid” leads the Penguins with 76 points (25 goals, 51 assists) in 69 games.
Bringing additional scoring for the Penguins, Rakell’s 32 goals ranks first on the team and 13th in the NHL.
Another veteran that’s been producing for years, on the blue line, Erik Karlsson leads Pittsburgh D-men with 49 points (10 goals, 39 assists) and his 171 shots is the third most on the team.
Tristan Jarry is expected to get the start Sunday night.
The Penguins goaltender owns a 12-9 record, .895 save percentage, and 3.13 goals against average.
THEY SAID IT
“He’s got a great deal of skill, some vision on him, and I think he’s just going to get better every game he plays.” – Sam Bennett on Mackie Samoskevich
“We’ll process this one tonight and we’ll start with tomorrow, tomorrow.” – Paul Maurice on learning from loss against the Washington Capitals ahead of their game against the Pittsburgh Penguins
FIVE CATS STATS
- Anton Lundell owns a +14 plus/minus rating at home this season.
- The Panthers have five players with more than 10 goals at home this season.
- Mackie Samoskevich has 10 points (six goals, four assists) in the last 14 games.
- Aleksander Barkov and Jesper Boqvist each have two points this season against Pittsburgh.
- The Panthers have killed 34 of the last 36 opposing power plays.
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Forwards
Carter Verhaeghe – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Mackie Samoskevich – Sam Bennett – Evan Rodrigues
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Jesper Boqvist
A.J. Greer – Nico Sturm – Jonah Gadjovich
Defensemen
Gustav Forsling – Seth Jones
Niko Mikkola – Tobias Bjornfot
Uvis Balinskis – Nate Schmidt
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Vitek Vanecek
RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
- March 18: D Tobias Bjornfot recalled from Charlotte (AHL)
- March 7:Acquired forward Brad Marchand from the Boston Bruins for a conditional 2027 second-round selection
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
When: Sunday, March 23 at 6 p.m. ET
Where: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
TV & Streaming: Panthers+, WSFL-TV, WHDT, WFTX, ESPN+ (out of market)
Radio: 560 WQAM (Dade/Broward); 1230 WBZT-AM & 1 WZZR-FM (Palm Beach); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); Panthers App; SiriusXM App & Streaming 931
Tickets: Click Here
