SAN JOSE – The Florida Panthers will look to keep on rolling when they open up a three-game trip through California with a matchup against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Tuesday.
“It’s nice to get back on the road,” red-hot forward Sam Reinhart said. “The first one on a road trip is so important. It sets you off on the right foot. We’re excited about the opportunity.”
Winning each of their last four games, the Panthers improved to 9-4-1 with a 4-3 win over the Blackhawks at Amerant Bank Arena on Sunday. Matching his career high for points in a single game, Reinhart factored in on all four goals in the win, finishing with two goals and two assists.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Carter Verhaeghe also touched twine against Chicago, while Matthew Tkachuk and Evan Rodrigues chipped in two assists apiece. In net, Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves to extend his personal winning streak to five games and improve to 8-3-1.
During their winning streak, the Panthers have scored an average of 4.50 goals per game.
Named the First Star of the Week in the NHL on Monday, Reinhart leads the Panthers in goals (11) and points (21). In 14 games this season, he’s registered nine multi-point performances.
"It's good to get recognized,” Reinhart said of his latest honor. “The puck's going in right now. We're playing some good hockey as a team, and that's the most important thing."
In terms of personnel for the Panthers, Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour, who are both recovering from offseason surgery to fix upper-body injuries sustained in the playoffs, will remain out of the lineup.
That being said, their long-awaited returns aren’t too far off.
“There’s a chance they play on this trip, but it’ll be scheduled,” said head coach Paul Maurice, who noted that Friday’s game in Anaheim is a possible target. “These are 4-6 month injuries. We set five months is the guideline we’d look at. They’re very strong. Lord knows they’ve done enough laps and they’ve skated enough. We’re just going to stick with the original idea.”
After losing 11 straight games to open the season, the Sharks have been playing a little better as of late but are still very much in the early stages of a difficult rebuild. After beating the Flyers and Oilers, they suffered consecutive losses at Vegas and Anaheim in their last two contests.
In their 4-1 loss to the Ducks on Sunday, Luke Kunin scored the lone goal for San Jose while Mackenzie Blackwood, who was under duress most of the night, stopped 40 of 44 shots. With that loss, the Sharks failed to score more than one goal for the 10th time already this season.
Tomas Hertl leads San Jose in assists (8) and points (10), while Fabian Zetterlund has scored the most goals (4). Averaging an NHL-worst 1.20 goals per game as a team, just four players on the Sharks have tallied more than three points and only 11 players have earned multiple points.
Not any better in their own end, San Jose also ranks 32nd in goals allowed per game (4.40).
“We want to keep it going here a little bit,” Maurice said when asked about kicking off a new trip. “We’ve had a nice run of games -- unusual games. I think the quality of our play has been better than the score dictates. We’ve been pretty solid in a lot of laces. … We want to keep the game going. When you get on the road and you can keep that good feeling, it’s always more fun.”
Wrapping up their season series, the Panthers previously cruised to a 3-1 win over the Sharks on Oct. 24 in Sunrise. Reinhart, Verhaeghe and Kevin Stenlund scored in the game, while Anthony Stolarz stopped 27 of 28 shots between the pipes to pick up the victory in his Panthers debut.
Owning a 9-1-0 career record against the Sharks, Stolarz will get the nod in net again tonight.
“You can’t take any team in this league lightly," defenseman Josh Mahura said of the struggling Sharks. "They’re going to come out firing tonight. We’ve got to be able to have our own push. It’ll be a good game.”
PREGAME QUOTES
“We’re creating so much, so if something doesn’t go it’s been easy not to get too frustrated because there’s more chances coming. We’re reading off each other well, we’re creating lots, and we’re capitalizing.” – Sam Reinart on playing with Aleksander Barkov and Evan Rodrigues
“The points are part of what he does, but you really need to watch him play to fully appreciate how smart he is. He’s very gifted on the ice. Certainly he’s got skill. That’s unquestionable. His hockey IQ is very, very high.” – Paul Maurice on Sam Reinhart’s early-season success
“I think for the first game of the road trip it’s key to getting off to a good start, especially the first period of the first game. We’ll be looking to do that tonight.” – Josh Mahura on the importance of starting off a road trip on the right foot
FIVE CATS STATS
- Matthew Tkachuk is riding a six-game point streak.
- Sam Reinart has logged multiple points in each of his last four games.
- Aleksander Barkov leads Florida’s forwards with a +12 rating.
- Evan Rodrigues is expected to skate in his 400th NHL game.
- Carter Verhaeghe is one goal shy of his 100th NHL goal.
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Forwards
Evan Rodrigues – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Nick Cousins
Ryan Lomberg – Kevin Stenlund – Steven Lorentz
Defensemen
Gustav Forsling – Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Niko Mikkola – Dmitry Kulikov
Josh Mahura – Uvis Balinskis
Goaltenders
Anthony Stolarz
Sergei Bobrovsky
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
- Nov. 13: F William Lockwood loaned to Charlotte (AHL)
- Nov. 11: F Rasmus Asplund loaned to Charlotte (AHL)
- Nov. 7: F Jonah Gadjovich loaned to Charlotte (AHL) on conditioning assignment
HOW TO WATCH
When: Tuesday, Nov. 14 at 10:30 p.m. ET
Where: SAP Center – San Jose, CA
TV & Streaming: Hulu, ESPN+
Radio: 560 WQAM (Dade/Broward); 1230 WBZT (Palm Beach); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); 101.7 WCZR (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM App & Streaming 932; Panthers App
