Acquired from the Detroit Red Wings on Dec. 19, Givani Smith, who was recalled from the AHL this morning, will make his Panthers debut against the Islanders. Suiting up in 85 games over parts of four seasons with Detroit, the 24-year-old forward tallied 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in the NHL.
"It's always exciting news," said Smith, a second-round pick in 2016. "Got down here and got my first pre-game skate. I'm feeling good. … Just be yourself, play your game and it'll work out in the end."
When asked about what Smith will bring to the lineup, Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said he expects him to fit in well with the team's commitment to a having a very strong forecheck.
"He's got speed," Maurice said. "He's got size and he doesn't have any fear in his game."
Falling to 15-15-4 on the season, the Panthers enter tonight's matchup on the heels of a 4-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils at FLA Live Arena on Wednesday. Leading 2-1 after 40 minutes, the Panthers surrendered three goals in the third period as the two points suddenly slipped away.
Staal and Eetu Luostarinen each lit the lamp against the Devils, while Sergei Bobrovsky turned aside 29 of 32 shots during another strong showing in net. Set to man the crease on Long Island, Bobrovsky has posted a .920 save percentage while starting seven of the last eight games.
"He can probably be far more eloquent about anything he adjusted or changed, but it's all mindset," Maurice said of Bobrovsky's recent stretch of success. "I think he had a decent start to the year. He got into a little trouble. We weren't giving up a lot of chances, but the ones that we were giving up were big. … I think from the moment he stepped out of the tunnel in Winnipeg (on Dec. 6), he charged to that net. His two previous outings weren't very strong for him, and he almost looked angry going into the net. From that moment on he's been real good."
Sitting at 18-14-2, the Islanders have lost five of their last six games, including a 5-3 defeat at the hands of the rival New York Rangers less than 24 hours ago at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.
With the Islanders leading 3-2 after two periods on goals from Anders Lee, Mathew Barzal and Alexander Romanov, Barclay Goodrow scored just three minutes into the third period to make it 3-3 for the Rangers, and then with 2:47 left in regulation Kaapo Kakko netted the game-winner.
Winless in his last eight appearances, Ilya Sorokin stopped 29 of 33 shots for the Islanders.
Tied for first on New York in scoring with 33 points each, Barzal leads the team in assists (28), while Brock Nelson has scored the most goals (15). Lee ranks third in scoring with 24 points (11 goals, 13 assists). On the blue line, Noah Dobson leads all Islanders D-men with 10 goals.
Facing off for the third and final time this season, the Panthers have won each of their two previous matchups against the Islanders by a combined score of 6-3. In their last meeting on Oct. 23, Anton Lundell, Ryan Lomberg and Luostarinen scored during a 3-2 win at FLA Live Arena.
Going for a sweep of their season series, Staal said the Panthers will need to hold onto the puck as much as possible against New York.
"You've got to play in the offensive zone," Staal said. "I think that's been pretty evident here for a little bit. Especially against these guys, it's just trying to play in their end. Get the puck down low, get in front of their net and get those rebounds and tips."
