RALEIGH, N.C. – The Florida Panthers will look to match the NHL record for longest road-winning streak when they clash with the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena on Thursday.
Winning each of their last 11 games on the road, the Panthers have looked dominant on both sides of the puck during their sizzling streak while outscoring the opposition 51-18.
If they can top the Hurricanes tonight, they'll join the Detroit Red Wings (2005-06) and Minnesota Wild (2014-15) as the only teams in NHL history to win 12 straight on the road.
“I think if we just focus on our game, play defense first, the rest will come,” Panthers forward Kevin Stenlund said.
Entering tonight’s matchup sitting just one point behind the Boston Bruins for first place in the Atlantic Division at 37-15-4, the red-hot Panthers pushed their overall winning streak to six games with a 3-2 overtime win over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday in Sunrise.
Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour each scored for the Panthers regulation, while Anton Lundell picked a corner from a sharp angle at 1:36 of overtime to lock in the win. Between the pipes, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 shots, including making nine high-danger saves.
“I didn’t care for our game against Ottawa and I’d like to leave that as a one-off,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. “You can do that if you play hard here tonight.”
Sam Reinhart leads the Panthers in goals (39) and points (67), while also ranking first in the NHL in power-play goals (22). On a six-game point streak, Matthew Tkachuk, who leads the NHL with 38 points since Jan. 1, ranks second on the team in points (65) and first in assists (45).
At or near the top of most key statistics in the NHL, Florida ranks first in shots per game (34) and second in both shots allowed per game (27.7) and goals against per game (2.43). On special teams, they sit fifth on the power play (26%) and fourth on the penalty kill (83.2%).
During their road win streak, the Panthers are operating at 38.1% on the power play.
Getting the nod in net against the Hurricanes, Bobrovsky hasn’t surrendered more than two goals in any of his last seven starts, going 7-0-0 with a .944 save percentage. Third in the NHL with 30 wins, he’s also won a franchise-record eight consecutive starts on the road.
“He’s so good, man,” Florida defenseman Gustav Forsling said. “It’s been unreal to see him. He’s only getting better. It gives you a lot of confidence that you have him back there.”
Second in the Metropolitan Division, the Hurricanes improved to 33-17-5 and pushed their winning streak to three games with a 6-3 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday.
Michael Bunting, Martin Necas, Sebastian Aho, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Brent Burns and Jordan Martinook all scored against Chicago, while Spencer Martin, who had a very quiet night, made 14 saves. Building up a big lead early, Carolina scored the first four goals before the Blackhawks got on the board.
Overall, the Hurricanes have won eight of their last 10 games.
Aho leads the Hurricanes in goals (20), assists (39) and points (59). Second in scoring, Seth Jarvis has logged 46 points (18 goals, 28 assists). Spreading out the offense quite a bit, 14 different Carolina skaters have recorded at least 20 points and nine have scored at least 10 goals.
Despite no skate for the Hurricanes this morning, Carolina team reporter Walt Ruff suspects that Pyotr Kochetkov could get the nod in net against the Panthers. In 28 appearances this season, the 24-year-old has gone 14-9-3 with a .905 save percentage.
Meeting for the second time this season, the Panthers earned a 5-2 win over the Hurricanes in their first matchup back on Nov. 10 at Amerant Bank Arena. In the win, Reinhart, Tkachuk, Verhaeghe and Aleksander Barkov all posted multi-point performances.
A battle between two of the top-possession teams in the NHL, the Hurricanes rank first in the league with a 59.97 CF% at 5-on-5, while the Panthers are second with a 56.51 CF%.
Over their last eight games against Carolina, the Panthers have gone 6-2-0.
In the 2023 Eastern Conference Final, Florida swept the Hurricanes in four games.
“They’re a really good team,” Forsling said. “We saw them in the playoffs. We know what they bring. It’s going to be a lot of speed, a fast game out there.”
PREGAME QUOTES
“We’ve got to start early, try to box them out from the corners. Take their sticks away and try to let Bob see the puck.” -- Gustav Forsling
“They’re a good team. It’s a tough road game and a tough building to come into. We’ve just got to focus on our game, stay connected and all that.” -- Kevin Stenlund
“We’ll have to play with some energy. You have to change the way you play a little bit. When you get to Carolina, their defensive gap is so strong that you really have to get to the mindset that you’re not going to be able to do a lot with the puck in terms of one end to the other.” -- Paul Maurice
FIVE CATS STATS
- The Panthers have scored a power-play goal in 10 of their last 11 games.
- Niko Mikkola and Ryan Lomberg are tied for first on the Panthers with 132 hits each.
- Carter Verhaeghe has notched six points (4G, 2A) over his last three games.
- Gustav Forsling ranks first in the NHL with a +39 plus/minus rating.
- Florida ranks third in the NHL with a 55.78 xGF% at 5-on-5.
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Forwards
Carter Verhaeghe – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Nick Cousins – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Evan Rodrigues
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
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
When: Thursday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: PNC Arena – Raleigh, NC
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
