RALEIGH, NC – There will be no shortage of playoff-like hockey.
In the first of a home-and-home, the Atlantic Division’s second place Florida Panthers (13-9-1) will face-off against the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference leading Carolina Hurricanes (16-5-1) on Friday at 3:00 p.m. ET at Lenovo Center.
“We’re going to face another good challenge,” said goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. “[Carolina’s] got a good team. It’s going to be a good game. We’re going to focus on one shift at a time and keep building.”
On Wednesday, the Panthers snapped a four-game skid with a decisive 5-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Playing a crucial part in the win, the special teams flexed its muscles scoring twice on the power playing and killing two of Toronto’s three power plays, including getting a shorthanded goal from Sam Reinhart.
“We had our priorities right with what we were trying to accomplish on the ice,” said head coach Paul Maurice after the win. “The leaders on our team, I thought they were really strong tonight. You can’t be all things at all times, and I think we tried to be over the last little while, so we got our priorities right.”
With his 17th goal, Reinhart regained sole possession of first place on the NHL’s leaderboard.
On the season, the two-way forward ranks tied for sixth in the league with 32 points and first in shorthanded goals with four.
Over the last two seasons (105 games), Reinhart has registered 126 points (74 goals, 52 assists) and a +38 plus/minus rating.
Expected to play in his 700th game, Aaron Ekblad is coming off what Maurice said was “his best game of the year,” recording an assist, four hits and two blocked shots in 26:40 of ice time against Toronto.
Leading the Panthers with an average of 23:05 of ice time per game, the 11-year veteran is tied for second among Florida defenseman in points (10), tied for first in blocked shots (30), and ranks seventh on the team in hits (37).
Sergei Bobrovsky will get the nod in net today.
In the home locker room, the Hurricanes enter Friday’s game with nine straight wins at Lenovo Center.
Their most recent win came Wednesday, as they handed the New York Rangers their fourth straight loss in a 4-3 win.
At their home barn, they have a league-best home goal differential, outscoring opponents 46-23.
A big reason for that is center Martin Necas, who’s off to the best start of his career.
Sitting atop the NHL leaderboard in points, Necas has tallied 37 points (12 goals, 25 assists) in 22 games.
On the blue line, Dmitry Orlov currently leads the league with a +19 plus/minus rating, while also putting up 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) in 22 games.
In net, a recent injury for Pyotr Kochetkov could put either Spencer Martin or Yaniv Perets between the pipes.
THEY SAID IT
“You don’t go looking for losses, but they make you dig into the ground. They get you back to work—to work hard and compete.” – Sergei Bobrovsky on finding ways to win
“His energy, how fast and skilled he is -- it’s great. He’s getting better every day. It’s a lot of fun to see how he works really hard for it. The things he does on the ice, skating around the ice, I would love to have his legs at some point. It’s fun to watch.” – Aleksander Barkov on Mackie Samoskevich
FIVE CATS STATS
- Aleksander Barkov leads all NHL skaters with at least 200 faceoffs taken with a 65.9% faceoff win percentage.
- Aaron Ekblad is expected to skate in his 700th NHL Game
- Florida ranks tied for fifth in the League in road power play percentage (28.6%) and fourth in penalty kill percentage (86.7%).
- Gustav Forsling leads the team with a +15 plus/minus rating
- Sam Reinhart has nine second period goals
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Forwards
Evan Rodrigues – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Mackie Samoskevich
A.J. Greer – Tomas Nosek – Jesper Boqvist
Defensemen
Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Dmitry Kulikov
Nate Schmidt – Uvis Balinskis
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Spencer Knight
RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
- Nov. 4: Signed F Gracyn Sawchyn to an entry-level contract
- Nov. 1: F Patrick Giles loaned to AHL Charlotte
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
When: Friday, Nov. 29 at 3 p.m. ET
Where: Lenovo Center – Raleigh, NC
TV & Streaming: Panthers+, WSFL-TV, WHDT, WFTX, ESPN+ (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
Cats on Tap: **Click to View Participating Bars & Restaurants**\]([https://www.nhl.com/panthers/fans/catsontap)
