SEATTLE – The Florida Panthers will try to stretch their point streak to seven games when they kick off their five-game road trip against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Tuesday.
Leading the Atlantic Division at 17-9-2, Florida has gone 5-0-1 during its streak.
“I think we got our legs back,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “We had a 10-day block there where we were behind it a little bit. We weren’t really out of structure, we weren’t cheating the game, we just couldn’t get to it – couldn’t get to the hit, couldn’t get to the passes.”
Seeing familiar faces in Seattle, the Panthers caught up with two members of last year’s Stanley Cup squad on Monday, grabbing dinner with Brandon Montour and Josh Mahura.
At the gathering, both defensemen received their championship rings.
“It was awesome,” forward Anton Lundell said. “I played with Monty (Montour) for three years and Muzzy (Mahura) for a couple. It was awesome to see them again. Obviously, we were very tight as a team, and with them as well. It was fun to see them and catch up.”
Sneaking in one home game between road trips, the Panthers kept their streak alive with a 3-1 win over the San Jose Sharks in their last outing at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.
Matthew Tkachuk led the way with a pair of goals in the win, while Sergei Bobrovsky, who will man the crease in Seattle, stopped 28 of 29 shots between the pipes. Aleksander Barkov also netted a goal on the power play, which has been clicking at a staggering 45.8% over the last six contests.
At 5-on-5, the Panthers looked dominant with a 66-25 edge in shot attempts.
“I feel like we played pretty good as a team,” Lundell said of the win over the Sharks. “We were able to maintain the whole 60 minutes. Overall, just a very strong game from the whole team. We’ll just try to keep that going right now.”
Named the First Star of the Week in the NHL on Monday, Tkachuk enters tonight’s tilt riding a sizzling six-game point streak in which he’s registered 15 points (five goals, 10 assists).
Also on a heater, Sam Bennett is on a seven-game point streak.
“He always brings the energy,” defenseman Gustav Forsling said of Tkachuk.
Sitting three points out of a playoff spot, the Kraken have won three of their last four games to climb back to .500 at 14-14-1. Prior to heading home, they closed out their four-game road trip with a 7-5 win over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.
Oliver Bjorkstrand led Seattle with two goals (both coming in the second period) and two assists against the Rangers, while Vince Dunn, Shane Wright, Eeli Tolvanen and Yanni Gourde also touched twine. In net, Philipp Grubauer turned aside 32 of 37 shots.
Jared McCann leads the Kraken in scoring with 23 points (10 goals, 13 assists), while Bjorkstrand is second with 20 points (nine goals, 11 assists). Montour leads the team’s defensemen with 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists) and is averaging 23:31 of ice time per game.
The fourth-overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, Wright has scored in three straight games.
Owning a 12-6-1 record with a .913 save percentage, Joey Daccord will start for Seattle.
Trying to get their trip started off on the right foot, the Panthers will need to find their legs early.
“In our last six games, we had some pretty good jump,” Maurice said. “That’ll be the key tonight. A very, very quick team. We’ve just got off a long plane ride, a morning skate and a time zone change. We have to be ready to skate early in this game.”
THEY SAID IT
“In this league, I feel like every night is so different, every game is so different. You need to be able to find new ways and find a way to win. It’s not always the same. It’s a good challenge every night.” – Anton Lundell
“There’s a lot of personality in those two men (Brandon Montour and Josh Mahura). There’s a lot of giggles and smiles that went on in the locker room because of something those guys said. Just a wonderful enjoyment of the game, a love of teammates, they’re funny as heck.” – Paul Maurice
FIVE CATS STATS
- Since Nov. 19, Matthew Tkachuk leads the NHL with 19 points (6G, 13A).
- The Panthers have scored at least four goals in each of their last three road games.
- Carter Verhaeghe has cracked the scoresheet in seven of his last eight games.
- A.J. Greer leads the Panthers with 77 hits.
- Nine different Panthers have scored a power-play goal this season.
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Forwards
Carter Verhaeghe – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Jesper Boqvist – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Evan Rodrigues
A.J. Greer – Tomas Nosek – Mackie Samoskevich
Defensemen
Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Dmitry Kulikov
Uvis Balinskis – Nate Schmidt
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Spencer Knight
RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
- Dec. 6: G Chris Driedger loaned to Charlotte (AHL)
- Dec. 6: F Mackie Samoskevich recalled from Charlotte (AHL)
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
When: Tuesday, Dec. 10 at 10 p.m. ET
Where: Climate Pledge Arena - Seattle, WA
Radio: 560 WQAM (Dade/Broward); 1230 WBZT-AM & 92.1 WZZR-FM (Palm Beach); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); Panthers App; SiriusXM App & Streaming 931
Cats on Tap: Click to View Participating Bars & Restaurants
