PREVIEW: Panthers look to stay hot at home against Canucks

SUNRISE, Fla. – The Florida Panthers will look to build off a very strong showing in their home opener when they host the Vancouver Canucks at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.

Playing in front of a sellout crowd of 19,288, the Panthers grinded their way to a stellar 3-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs to improve to 2-2-0 with their second straight win on Thursday.

As they now look to add to their streak, they expect a similar atmosphere against Vancouver.

“It was amazing,” defenseman Gustav Forsling said of the support fans showed against the Maple Leafs. “We were almost spoiled with how good it was. Sold out, and the fans were really into it. It’s amazing how good of fans we’ve got. We want to keep this going on this homestand.”

Picking up right where they left off in last year’s playoffs, the Panthers once again kept Toronto’s star-studded offense in check. With only Mitch Marner breaking through, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 29 of 30 shots – including nine from high-danger areas – for Florida.

Newcomers Kevin Stenlund and Oliver Ekman-Larsson each lit the lamp for the Panthers, while Sam Reinhart iced the game with an empty-net goal. Carrying an incredibly hot stick, Reinhart leads the team with four goals and has found the back of the net in each of the last three contests.

“You’ll always have adversity,” coach Paul Maurice said after the win. “You’ll always have two or three guys out of your lineup. We just started the season with four playoff teams, and I’ve liked three of our four games. In the last two, they were elite offensive teams, and we had to scratch and claw. It wasn’t perfect. It’s not going to look pretty, but the understanding and acceptance by your leadership that you can’t be casually wading into the first part of the season is critical.”

Putting their bodies on the line to get the job done, the Panthers blocked 26 shots against the Maple Leafs, including a few key ones on a game-deciding penalty kill at the end of regulation.

In two of four games thus far, the Panthers have surrendered two or fewer goals.

“For our game, I think we’ve had a great gap,” Forsling said of the team’s early success on defense despite dressing four new players on the back end. “We’ve been shutting them down early and not letting them [enter the zone] with possession. I think our PK has been solid, too.”

For one of the team’s new defenseman, tonight’s game will be extra special.

After spending the previous two seasons manning the blue line for the Canucks, Ekman-Larsson, who leads Florida in ice time, will battle against his former team for the first time.

“It’s always special, right? Playing against guys that you’ve battled on the ice with is special,” said Ekman-Larsson, who inked a one-year deal with the Panthers after being bought out by Vancouver. “It’s going to be a little weird, but I think when the game starts all that kind of goes away.”

After flying out of the gate with back-to-back wins over the Edmonton Oilers, the Canucks enter tonight’s tilt sitting at 2-2-0 and looking to bounce back after dropping each of their last two contests, including a 4-3 loss against the Tampa Bay Lighting on Thursday at Amalie Arena.

In that loss to the Lightning, Brock Boeser, Tyler Myers and J.T. Miller lit the lamp for the Canucks, while Thatcher Demko, who’s started three of the last four games, made 32 saves.

Elias Pettersson leads Vancouver in assists (7) and points (8), while Boeser ranks first in goals (5). Always a threat to make something happen from the blue line, defenseman Quinn Hughes has dished out four assists and ranks second on the team in average ice time per game (24:52).

As always, Maurice said Hughes is a player to keep an eye on.

“It’s not just up the ice,” the Panthers bench boss said when asked about the threat that Hughes poses. “Where you see it most is on the offensive line. He can control the puck and beat a guy even if the guy’s not being casual. His ability to spin off people, to fake and come back the other side, he’s an elite, elite skater. There’s got to be a little bit more containment.”

Last season, the Panthers swept their two-game series with Vancouver.

Dating back to Jan. 9, 2020, they've won each of their last five head-to-head matchups against the Canucks by a combined score of 20-9.

During tonight’s game, the Panthers will also celebrate their second-annual “Pink in the Rink.”

The goal of the night is to raise awareness for early breast cancer detection strategies, honor those who are currently battling the disease and those who have overcome it, and highlighting the dedicated members of the local medical community who work tirelessly within the field.

In addition to all fans in the building receiving a pink rally towel courtesy of Baptist Health Cancer Care, exclusive “Pink in the Rink” jerseys -- designed by local contemporary artist Didi Contreres -- will be available during a charitable auction held at FlaPanthers.givesmart.com.

“It’s great that we do that,” said forward Ryan Lomberg, whose mother is a cancer survivor. “It’s something that affects a lot of people in one way or another. It’s important to a lot of people, especially myself. I’m looking forward to tonight.”

PREGAME QUOTES

“It’s been awesome. He’s such a smart player. He makes it very easy to play with him. We talk Swedish a little bit, too. That helps a lot. It’s been great. He’s been very good.” – Gustav Forsling on being paired with Oliver Ekman-Larsson

“It’s a different kind of puck-control game that they play. There are nights when you play Toronto and you play New Jersey, when you’re running against their top-two lines, you have to be a little more careful about what you do. You can’t run out of position. When you get into three and fours in that matchup, you can be physical and you can be fast. We need that for the rest of the rotation to feel like that. If they don’t play that game, it kind of starts to feel like a soft game and you don’t like that. They’re that identity line. Those are the guys where it’s their challenge to look the exact same way every shift.” – Paul Maurice on Florida’s fourth line

FIVE CATS STATS

- The Panthers have outscored opponents 5-2 in the first period this season.

- Matthew Tkachuk has tallied 33 points in 33 career games against Vancouver.

- Over his last two starts, Sergei Bobrovsky owns a 2-0-0 record with a.938 save percentage.

- Evan Rodrigues ranks second on the Panthers with five points (two goals, three assists).

- Oliver Ekman-Larsson ranks third in the NHL in average time on ice (25:31).

PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)

Forwards

Evan Rodrigues – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart

Carter Verhaeghe – Eetu Luostarinen – Matthew Tkachuk

Nick Cousins – Anton Lundell – Justin Sourdif

Ryan Lomberg – Kevin Stenlund – Steven Lorentz

Defensemen

Gustav Forsling – Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Niko Mikkola – Dmitry Kulikov

Josh Mahura – Uvis Balinskis

Goaltenders

Sergei Bobrovsky

Anthony Stolarz

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

- Oct. 17: F Will Lockwood recalled from Charlotte (AHL); F Mackie Samoskevich loaned to Charlotte (AHL)

- Oct. 16: F Jonah Gadjovich agreed to terms on a one-year contract

HOW TO WATCH

When: Saturday, October 21 at 7 p.m. ET

Where: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL

TV & Streaming: Bally Sports Florida, Bally Sports+

Radio: 790 WAXY (Dade/Broward); 1230 WBZT (Palm Beach); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); 101.7 WCZR (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM App & Streaming 932; Panthers App

Tickets: Click Here