SUNRISE, Fla. – The Florida Panthers will be looking to get off to a better start when they wrap up their homestand against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Amerant Bank Arena on Friday.
Taking the ice in Sunrise less than 24 hours earlier, the Panthers were outshot 16-6 in the first period of an eventual 3-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday.
With the loss, the Panthers fell to 23-14-2.
While the start didn’t cost them the game, it’s not something they want to make a habit.
“We didn’t love our start,” defenseman Gustav Forsling said after the loss. “We’ve got a chance to improve it tomorrow and come out ready to play.”
After stumbling out of the gate against the Hurricanes, the Panthers responded with a strong second period in which Anton Lundell found the game-tying goal to make it 1-1.
In the third period, the Hurricanes regained the lead on a controversial goal when Jaccob Slavin scored after Jesperi Kotkaniemi had violently crashed right into Sergei Bobrovsky.
Later adding an empty-net goal, Carolina ended up with a 3-1 win.
Over the final two periods, the Panthers led 26-14 in scoring chances.
Between the pipes, Bobrovsky stood tall with 37 saves.
“If you take that first 10-15 minutes away, I think we played a pretty good game,” Lundell said. “Bob (Bobrovsky) kept us in the game at the start, and we tried to help him as well.”
Off to a stellar start in the first season of his new eight-year contract, Sam Reinhart leads the Panthers in goals (22) and points (45). Matthew Tkachuk is second in points (35), while Aleksander Barkov is third in points (34) and tied with Reinhart for the most assists (23).
After backing up Bobrovsky against Carolina, Spencer Knight will likely start tonight.
Owning a 6-6-1 record this season, the 23-year-old goaltender has made one career appearance against Pittsburgh.
Fourth in the Metropolitan Division at 17-17-5, the Penguins have lost three of their last five games, including a 4-2 defeat at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday.
Tied 2-2 in the third period, the Penguins let any hope of picking up at least a point slip away when J.T. Compher and Dylan Larkin scored for Detroit during the final six minutes.
Struggling to keep the puck out of their own net, the Penguins rank last in the NHL with 3.67 goals allowed per game.
Not skipping a beat in his 20th season in the NHL, Sidney Crosby leads Pittsburgh in scoring with 41 points (10 goals, 31 assists). Tied for second, Rickard Rakell and Evgeni Malkin, a fellow ageless wonder like Crosby, have each registered 31 points.
Splitting time in net for the Penguins, Tristan Jarry has gone 8-6-2 with a .885 save percentage, while Alex Nedeljkovic has gone 6-6-3 with a .889 save percentage. At the time of this writing, a starter has yet to be announced.
In their first meeting of the season on Dec. 3 in Pittsburgh, the Panthers picked up a point in a 5-4 overtime loss.
THEY SAID IT
“Bob is a good pro, a good player, so he’s had a lot of nights where he has been the difference for us. It was a tough one tonight for him, but he played very well so he gets to come to the rink proud tomorrow. He was prepped; he was ready.” – Paul Maurice on Sergei Bobrovsky’s performance against Carolina
“It was a weird goal they got, and we weren’t able to get one back.” – Anton Lundell on Carolina’s game-winning goal
FIVE CATS STATS
- The Panthers are 8-2-3 in their last 13 games against Pittsburgh.
- The Panthers are 10-1-0 in games in which Aleksander Barkov scores.
- Sam Reinhart and Matthew Tkachuk each have seven power-play goals.
- Carter Verhaeghe has fired off a team-high 114 shots on goal.
- Tomas Nosek leads the Panthers with a 66.67 GF% at 5-on-5.
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Forwards
Evan Rodrigues – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Eetu Luostarinen – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Carter Verhaeghe – Anton Lundell – Jesper Boqvist
A.J. Greer – Tomas Nosek – Mackie Samoskevich
Defensemen
Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Uvis Balinskis – Dmitry Kulikov
Nate Schmidt – Adam Boqvist
Goaltenders
Spencer Knight
Sergei Bobrovsky
RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
- Dec. 23: F Rasmus Asplund loaned to Charlotte (AHL)
- Dec. 22: F Rasmus Asplund recalled from Charlotte (AHL)
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
When: Friday, Jan. 3 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
TV & Streaming: Panthers+, WSFL-TV, WHDT, WFTX, NHL Network (out of market)
Radio: 560 WQAM (Dade/Broward); 1230 WBZT-AM & 92.1 WZZR-FM (Palm Beach); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); Panthers App; SiriusXM App & Streaming 931
Tickets: Click Here
