Sitting at 14-12-4, the Panthers enter tonight's matchup looking to build off a 4-0 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday. Standing tall against Columbus, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 22 shots he faced, while Tkachuk, Barkov, Sam Reinhart and Brandon Montour lit the lamp.
Over the last seven games, Florida has posted a 4-3-0 record.
"I thought it was a great complete effort from our group," Panthers forward Sam Bennett said. "I thought right from the start we were in the game. Bobby played a great game as well. We like games like that. We're going to try and keep rolling off the good vibes from that game."
Set to make his fifth straight start in net, Bobrovsky will draw in against the Penguins. In his previous four starts, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner has gone 2-2-0 with a .919 save percentage. In 30 career appearances against Pittsburgh, he's posted a 15-9-6 record.
"I don't think that we gave Sergei a great chance early to be special," Maurice said. "I don't think we gave a lot of volume on him, but early in games I thought we gave up too much for him to settle in. … Getting your goaltender an opportunity to see some pucks early and play a nice tight game in front of him and not making him have to stretch post to post is really important."
Pushing their winning streak to seven games, the Penguins enter tonight's matchup fresh off a 2-1 win against the Dallas Stars on Monday. After falling behind 1-0, Pierre-Olivier Joseph and Evgeni Malkin scored to put Pittsburgh on top 2-1, while Tristan Jarry stopped 26 of 27 shots throughout the contest to shut the door.
Second in the Metropolitan Division with a record of 17-8-4, the Penguins have won 11 of their last 13 games. During that run, they've outscored their opponents 45-27. Of those 45 goals, 10 have come from Sidney Crosby, who has also compiled a team-high +10 rating in that stretch.
At 35 years old, Crosby leads Pittsburgh in goals (17), assists (21) and points (38).
"To do what he's done his whole career and to still do it in the game today is incredibly impressive," Bennett said of the two-time Hart Trophy winner. "He's a guy that I idolized growing up, so it's definitely cool to go up against him tonight."
Facing off for the first time in 2022-23, the Panthers own a 4-1-1 record against the Penguins over their last six head-to-head matchups. In three games last season, Florida went 2-0-1 in three matchups with Pittsburgh, with Verhaeghe and Aaron Ekblad each scoring three goals.
"I think they play a very consistent game," Maurice said of the Penguins. "You can expect an awful lot of speed on the wings and a lot of experience. The middle ice there is so strong that at both ends of the ice they have the advantage on you a little and their attack is really balanced."
