PHILADELPHIA – Let’s see how much love is going to actually be in the City of Brotherly Love.
Closing out their two-game road trip from one side of Pennsylvania to the other, the Florida Panthers will battle the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday at Wells Fargo Center at 7 p.m. ET.
Sitting at 15-9-2, the Panthers currently reside in second place in the Atlantic Division.
"To be able to find that juice and that energy is important for us," said head coach Paul Maurice. "We haven't had one (game being down big) yet this year. We don't trail a lot of games, so we need to build that into our game plan."
Despite erasing a three-goal deficit in the third period, the Panthers saw their valiant comeback fall just a bit short in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday.
Trailing 4-1, the Panthers got goals from Sam Bennett, Adam Boqvist and Matthew Tkachuk in a span of less than five minutes to pull even with the Penguins and get the game into overtime.
On a 2-on-1 rush in the extra frame, Bryan Rust scored the winner for Pittsburgh.
“I think we're all kind of you know trying to find the groove right now,” Tkachuk said. “Now we're going to play a team in Philly that makes it really hard on you to work for your ice and earn it, so we've got to come ready to play.”
In the game, Tkachuk recorded his 600th career point, as well as his 601st and 602nd in a dominant four-point performance for the Panthers.
On a four-game point streak, Tkachuk, who will represent team USA in the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, has registered eight points (two goals, six assists) and 12 hits during that span.
“Matthew is emotionally in tune to the game,” said Maurice. “He knows when we're right, when we're not right, when we need to hit, when we need some scrum to the net, when we need a play to be made. He has that sense of, if there's a weakness on the other team, if there's a player struggling, he picks that up right away.”
On an identical four-game point streak, Aaron Ekblad has been playing some of his best hockey both offensively and defensively.
During his streak, the right-handed defenseman has posted five points (one goal, four assists), seven hits, nine blocked shots, 14 shots and a +3 plus/minus rating.
Spencer Knight is expected to get the nod in net, with Chris Driedger backing up as Sergei Bobrovsky remains back in South Florida after an addition to his family.
Over his last six starts, Knight has allowed two or fewer goals four times.
Entering tonight’s matchup on a three-game winning streak, the Flyers sit at 12-10-3 and are tied with the New York Rangers for the fourth-most points in the Metropolitan Division.
Having not played since Nov. 30, the Flyers last game was a 3-2 overtime win over the St. Louis Blues in which rookie Matvei Michkov scored the game-winner.
One of the top rookies this year, Michkov has recorded 19 points (nine goals, 10 assists), including three overtime game-winners in 23 games.
Michkov’s 19 points lead all NHL rookies and place him second on Philadelphia’s overall scoring leaderboard behind only Travis Konecny, who’s notched 30 points (13 goals, 17 assists).
On the blue line, the 6-foot-4 Travis Sanheim is logging a career-high 25:30 time on ice, while compiling 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) in 25 games.
With Samuel Ersson returning from injury, the Flyers have a few options in net between Ersson (2.70 goals against average, .902 save percentage), Ivan Fedotov (3.39 goals against average, .881 save percentage) and Aleksei Kolosov (2.94 goals against average, .891 save percentage).
In their previous meeting this season, Evan Rodrigues scored the game-winning goal in a 4-3 shootout win at Amerant Bank Arena on Nov. 9.
THEY SAID IT
“It’s a dream come true to play with him.” – Adam Boqvist on playing with brother Jesper
“I mean pretty crazy to be honest. I didn't really think about it when it happened, but after the game it was special for sure. It would feel better with two points, but a dream come true for sure.” – Jesper Boqvist on assisting on Adam’s goal
FIVE CATS STATS
- Aaron Ekblad has tallied c16 points (4G, 12A) in 25 career games against the Flyers.
- Sam Bennett is on a four-game goal streak.
- Adam Boqvist has scored goals in back-to-back games.
- Jesper Boqvist has posted 61 hits, almost eclipsing his career high of 71.
- The Panthers have outshot their opponents 130-91 in the last four games.
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Forwards
Evan Rodrigues – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Jesper Boqvist
A.J. Greer – Tomas Nosek – Jonah Gadjovich
Defensemen
Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Nate Schmidt
Dmitry Kulikov – Adam Boqvist
Goaltenders
Spencer Knight
Chris Driedger
RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
- Dec. 2: Chris Driedger recalled from Charlotte Checkers (AHL)
- Dec. 2: Mackie Samoskevich loaned to Charlotte Checkers (AHL)
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
When: Thursday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: Wells Fargo Center - Philadelphia, PA
TV & Streaming: Panthers+, WSFL-TV, WHDT, WFTX, ESPN+ (out of market)
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
