SUNRISE, Fla. – Matthew Tkachuk and Kevin Stenlund will both return to the lineup when the Florida Panthers face off against the Buffalo Sabres at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday.
Thankfully, Tkachuk (injury) and Stenlund (illness) each only missed one game.
“Both good,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said after this morning's skate.
Two key pieces for the Panthers, Tkachuk ranks second on the team in scoring with 65 points (20 goals, 45 assists), while Stenlund plays a key role on the team’s seventh-ranked penalty kill (82.6%) and is winning 53.5% of his faceoffs.
“Now I’m good,” Stenlund smiled. “A little rough two days, but I’m good now.”
Entering tonight’s matchup just two points behind the Boston Bruins for first place in the Atlantic Division with two games in hand, the Panthers improved to 38-16-4 with a 3-2 overtime win against the Washington Capitals in their last outing on Saturday in Sunrise.
Trailing 2-1 in the third period, captain Aleksander Barkov evened the score against the Capitals when he tipped in a shot from Carter Verhaeghe on the power play to make it 2-2.
With the action eventually getting to overtime, Gustav Forsling took center stage when he broke up an odd-man rush in the defensive zone, flew down the ice and one-timed a pass from Sam Bennett into the back of the net to help the Panthers complete their comeback.
The win marked the 13th straight game the Panthers have given up two or fewer goals.
“So much of what he does isn’t on the scoresheet,” Florida forward Sam Reinhart said of Forsling, who’s scored in two of the last four games. “It’s certainly nice when it does show up in a game like [the last one]. It’s the 3-on-1 before that that’s a play he makes every shift he’s out there and stops. It’s certainly nice for him to be rewarded and get that recognition.”
Sergei Bobrovsky will get the nod in net for the Panthers.
Tied for third in the NHL with 28 wins, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner has been nearly unbeatable for two months, going 14-2-1 with a .925 save percentage in his last 18 appearances.
In his career against Buffalo, he boasts a 13-7-2 record.
Shining a light on one of the team’s behind-the-scenes heroes, the Panthers will recognize assistant equipment manager Thomas “Train” Anderson for recently hitting 1,000 pro games tonight.
“The equipment manager’s life is full-on hockey all the time,” Maurice said of Anderson’s milestone, which was achieved at Carolina on Feb. 22. “They’re special guys. Then you get people like Train that are also wired into the fabric of the players. … He is a joy bringer. I’ve been in bad mood at the rink, but then you see Train and he puts a smile on your face.”
Trying to get back into the playoff race, the Sabres have won four of their last five games to improve to 27-27-4 and get within 11 points of a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
In their most-recent outing, the Sabres edged the Hurricanes 3-2 in a shootout.
Trailing 2-1 in the third period, Owen Power lit the lamp for Buffalo to get the game knotted up at 2-2 and force the extra frame. Following a scoreless overtime, Casey Mittelstadt beat Spencer Martin in the shootout to lock in the win and pocket a crucial additional point for the Sabres.
Between the pipes, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 30 saves for Buffalo.
“We’re not forcing anything. We’re playing as a team right now,” Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin told reporters after the win. “It’s huge, especially at home. Now we just build off this and keep pushing.”
Mittelstadt leads Buffalo in scoring with 44 points (13 goals, 31 assists), while Dahlin ranks second with 43 points (14 goals, 29 assists) and is averaging a team-high 25:40 of ice time per game on the blue line. Third in scoring, Alex Tuch has tallied 38 points (16 goals, 22 assists).
Sitting at 17-14-2 with a .913 save percentage, Luukkonen has started nine of the last 10 games for the Sabres. With no skate this morning, Buffalo won’t announce its starting goaltender until closer to puck drop. If Luukkonen doesn’t go, it’ll be backup Eric Comrie getting the nod.
Their second of three meetings on the docket for this season, the Panthers shut out the Sabres 4-0 in their last matchup on Feb. 15 at KeyBank Center. In the win, Anthony Stolarz stopped all 45 shots he faced for the Panthers, while Verhaeghe scored a pair of goals.
Over their last nine meetings, the Panthers own an 8-1-0 record against the Sabres.
“They generated a fair amount on us off the rush, which we don’t like,” Maurice said of their recent head-to-head battle. "It’s the hallmark of what we’re good at. We don’t give a lot. We look at this as a game where we’ve got to be better than we were on our rush defense. … They’ve got skill, they’ve got talent and they’ve got speed. When your risk profile changes as you move towards the end of the year, [these types of teams] become more and more dangerous. It’s a really good test.”
PREGAME QUOTES
“They’re a skilled, skilled team. Obviously, they play fast and stuff like that. It’s a tough opponent. We’ve got to be sharp.” – Kevin Stenlund
“I think you’ve got to defend and not give them too much ice to play on. They’ve got a lot of skill, a lot of offensive capabilities. You minimize their time and space.” – Sam Reinhart
FIVE CATS STATS
- Since Dec. 23, the Panthers lead the NHL in wins (20) and points (43).
- Aaron Ekblad has scored two goals over his last five games.
- Sergei Bobrovsky owns a .947 save percentage over his last eight starts.
- Gustav Forsling ranks first in the NHL with a +40 plus/minus rating.
- Sam Reinhart leads the NHL with a franchise-record 22 goals on the power play.
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Forwards
Carter Verhaeghe – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Nick Cousins – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Evan Rodrigues
Jonah Gadjovich – Kevin Stenlund – Ryan Lomberg
Defensemen
Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Brandon Montour
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Dmitry Kulikov
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Anthony Stolarz
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
When: Tuesday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
TV & Streaming: Hulu, ESPN+
Radio: 790 WAXY (Dade/Broward); 1230 WBZT (Palm Beach); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); 101.7 WCZR (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM Channel 220 / Streaming 932; Panthers App
Tickets: Here
