Continuing to live up to their "Comeback Cats" nickname, the Panthers enter tonight's matchup riding high after coming back from down 3-1 to top the Sabres 4-3 at FLA Live Arena on Friday.
Clawing their way back from a multi-goal deficit for the third time in their last four games, Sam Bennett scored what would stand as the game-winning goal when he hammered a pass from Aleksander Barkov into the net from on the doorstep with only 37.3 seconds left in regulation.
For Bennett, the timely tally was the 100th goal and 200th point of his career.
"We're not thrilled with our starts," said Bennett, who has scored a career-high 27 goals, including a team-leading 21 on home ice, this season. "We've definitely got to figure that out coming up to the playoffs here, but we've showed our team has all the belief in each other and in our group to dial it in when we need to and play the right style of hockey to get the win."
Leading the NHL with a franchise-record 295 goals, the Panthers have benefited recently from an uptick in production on the power play. Going 6-for-11 (54.6%) over their last three games, Claude Giroux and Sam Reinhart each lit the lamp with the extra attacker against the Sabres.
On a 10-game point streak, Jonathan Huberdeau leads the Panthers and ranks second in the NHL with a franchise-record 103 points (26 goals, 77 assists), while Barkov is second with 78 points (34 goals, 44 assists) and Reinhart sits in third with 70 points (27 goals, 43 assists).
Settling into his new surroundings, Giroux, who was acquired from the Flyers at the trade deadline, has recorded 11 points (two goals, nine assists) in nine games since the move.
"He's a leader and he works so hard on both sides of the puck," Panthers forward Patric Hornqvist said of Giroux, who is also winning 55.2% of his faceoffs. "He's a shorter version of Barky. When you have those two up the middle and even putting one of the side, we have a dangerous team. He's been fitting in well. Nice to see him score a few goals here lately."
With Sergei Bobrovsky turning aside 19 shots to pick up the win against the Sabres, it's likely that Spencer Knight will get the nod against the Predators. Owning a 16-8-3 record, the 20-year-old rookie has gone 6-2-0 with a .903 save percentage and one shutout in his last eight starts.
Occupying the first wild card spot in the Western Conference, the Predators improved to 41-25-4 with a 3-2 win at Ottawa on Thursday. Trailing 2-1 in the third period, Tanner Jeannot and Ryan Johansen each touched twine for Nashville to come from behind and lock in the victory.
Looking like a lock to be a finalist for the Norris Trophy, Roman Josi, who won the award in 2020, dished out three assists against the Senators to set a new franchise record for points in a season with 87 (19 goals 68 assists) -- a number that also paces all defensemen in the league.
Second on the Predators in scoring, Matt Duchene has racked up 74 points (37 goals, 37 assists). After him, Filip Forsberg is third with 70 points, including a team-leading 38 goals.
"I love this team, and I'm getting a lot of free points because guys are playing so well and guys are scoring," Josi said when asked about his record-setting season on offense. "Our power play is doing really well. It's just so much fun being a part of this team. Everybody plays for each other, everybody wants everyone to do well, and it's just been so much fun."
Starting each of the last six games, Juuse Saros owns a 35-21-3 record with a .921 save percentage and three shutouts. Occasionally seeing time between Nashville's pipes, David Rittich has gone 5-3-1 with a .890 save percentage over his 11 appearances this campaign.
In their only previous head-to-head matchup this season, the Predators scored three straight goals in the third period to stun the Panthers and secure a 6-4 win back on Feb. 22 in Sunrise.
Since Jan. 1, Florida has compiled a 16-5-2 record on the road.
