SUNRISE, Fla. – The Florida Panthers will look to push their winning streak to four games when they host the Montreal Canadiens at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.
After beating Vegas 4-2 in their final game before Christmas, the Panthers have stayed hot since returning from the holiday break, following up a 3-2 win at Tampa Bay on Wednesday with a 4-3 win against the Rangers less than 24 hours ago on Friday.
Sitting at 21-12-2, the Panthers occupy second place in the Atlantic Division.
Tonight’s game also marks the end of Florida’s lone back-to-back at home this season.
“Three wins in a row against three really good teams,” Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk said after the win over New York. “We really haven’t played a perfect start-to-finish game, but we’re finding ways. That’s very encouraging. If we can just figure out a little bit how to play that full 60, I think we’re going to be a tough team to beat.”
Even if it wasn’t the “full 60” they were looking for, last night’s win was still impressive.
After watching a 2-0 lead turn into a 3-3 game in the third period after Mika Zibanejad buried a one-timer on the penalty kill for a shorthanded goal, the Panthers showed off their mental fortitude in one of their most dire looking situations of the season to date.
In addition to losing the lead, they also briefly lost their captain when Aleksander Barkov exited after being hit in the head by an elbow from Rangers forward Alexis Lafrenière.
But after taking a moment to reset, Carter Verhaeghe beat Jonathan Quick with a goal from the slot to put the Panthers back up 4-3 just 1:22 after New York had tied it.
Soon after – and much to the delight of everyone in the building – Barkov returned.
“Barky’s the best player on our team,” Verhaeghe said following the win. “Any time that he’s in the lineup, he makes a huge difference. It was nice to get him back in those last couple minutes just to know that he was OK. We all care about each other here.”
Upping his team-high goal total to 23, Sam Reinhart found the back of the net twice against New York, including netting his league-leading 10th goal on the power play.
Dishing out three assists for the second straight game, Barkov moved into a tie with Jonathan Huberdeau for the franchise's all-time assists record of 415. Barkov already holds the franchise records for goals (254), points (669) and games played (696).
“Barky, from the start of camp, he really just drives everything for us,” Tkachuk said. “Ever since I’ve been here, he’s just been the best player and the best leader.”
Between the pipes, Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 save, including nine high-danger stops. With Bobrovsky coming up big, the Panthers were also perfect on the penalty kill for the sixth straight game, going 2-for-2 against New York’s top-ranked power play.
With Bobrovsky likely to get a breather, Anthony Stolarz is expected to start against the Canadiens. In nine appearances so far this season, the steady backup has posted a 4-3-1 record with an outstanding 2.18 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage.
Panthers head coach Paul Maurice will provide lineup information around 4:45 p.m. ET.
Sixth in the Atlantic Division at 15-14-5, the Canadiens have won three of their last five games, but enter tonight’s tilt trying to rebound from a 5-3 loss at Carolina on Thursday.
After Josh Anderson tied the game for Montreal just 25 seconds into the third period, Andrei Svechnikov scored a pair of goals to complete his hat trick and secure the win for the Hurricanes. Montreal is 4-13-4 when trailing after two periods this campaign.
“They block a lot of shots,” Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis said after the loss. “It’s a shame we didn’t get more shots through, but we had good intentions.”
Nick Suzuki leads Montreal in goals (10), assists (20) and points (30). With the Canadiens ranking 27th in the NHL on offense with an average of 2.79 goals per game, Suzuki is the only player on the team to hit double-digits in goals so far this season.
With Cayden Primeau getting the nod at Carolina, Jake Allen is expected to man the crease against the Panthers. In 12 appearances this season, the 33-year-old veteran owns a 4-6-2 record with a 3.43 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage.
Facing off for the second time this season, the Panthers cruised to a 5-1 win over the Canadiens at Bell Centre on Nov. 30. In that win, nine different Cats recorded at least one point, while Bobrovsky turned aside 21 of 22 shots he faced between the pipes.
On an eight-game point streak against the Canadiens, Barkov has terrorized Montreal throughout his career, finding the back of the net 23 times in just 32 games to date.
PREGAME QUOTES
Check back following Maurice’s pregame availability at 4:45 p.m. ET.
FIVE CATS STATS
- The Panthers own a 14-0-2 record when scoring first this season.
- Florida is surrendering the fourth-fewest goals per game in the NHL (2.60).
- Sam Reinhart has scored a team-leading 11 goals at home this season.
- Carter Verhaeghe ranks second on the team in game-winning goals (4).
- Matthew Tkachuk has logged multiple points in two of his last three games.
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 – Will Lockwood
Defensemen
Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Brandon Montour
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Dmitry Kulikov
Goaltenders
Anthony Stolarz
Sergei Bobrovsky
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
- Dec. 16: F Will Lockwood recalled from Charlotte (AHL)
- Dec. 15: D Uvis Balinskis loaned to Charlotte (AHL)
HOW TO WATCH
When: Saturday, Dec. 30 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 Channel 221 / App & Streaming 932; Panthers App
Tickets: Here
