Arizona begins its first extended road trip out east with a Monday (Oct. 25) matchup against the Florida Panthers. The game marks the first time since Feb. 25, 2020 the clubs will go head-to-head, and the first time in South Florida since Jan. 7 of that year. Puck drop against the undefeated Panthers is scheduled for 4 p.m. Arizona Time and 7 p.m. local time.
PACK FACTS
The clubs split their two-game, home-and-home series in 2019-20, but Arizona posted a plus-two goal differential over those two contests. The win took place in Arizona's most recent trip to Sunrise, Fla., where five different goal scorers found the back of the net (5-2 win). The Coyotes' franchise is 19-14-3-2 all-time against the Panthers.
Phil Kessel recorded three assists the first time he played Florida in a Coyotes uniform (Feb. 25, 2020). Kessel's three helpers that night are tied for the highest single-game total a Coyote has recorded against the Panthers in the last 10 years. He's compiled four assists in his last three games overall against the Panthers.
FLORIDA NATIVES
Blueliners Jakob Chychrun (Boca Raton) and Shayne Gostisbehere (Pembroke Pines) are both natives of the Greater Miami area.
A LOOK AT THE PANTHERS
Florida (5-0-0, 10 pts) enters Monday tied with Edmonton with 10 points to pace the league. Jonathan Huberdeau leads the club in scoring with six points (2-4-6), and recently became the franchise leader in career power-play points after recording his 154th (40-114-154) with a power-play goal on Saturday. Florida has also seen a resurgence in Sergei Bobrovsky (1.99 GAA, .942 SV%), who's one of two netminders to have four wins and a save percentage over .940.
MILESTONES TO WATCH
Phil Kessel: Three power-play assists from 200 career NHL power-play assists.
Clayton Keller: Four assists from 130 career NHL assists.
Clayton Keller: Four points from 200 career NHL points.
KEY CONNECTIONS
Ex-Coyotes
• Ulf Samuelsson (Associate Head Coach, 2006-11)
• Kevin Connauton (2015-19)
• Anthony Duclair (2015-18)
Ex-Panthers
• Cory Stillman (2008-11)
• Anton Stralman (2019-21)
Lawson Crouse played with Sam Bennett with the OHL's Kingston Frontenacs (2013-15).
Shayne Gostisbehere was teammates with Radko Gudas in Philadelphia (2015-19).
Carter Hutton played with Patric Hornqvist in Nashville during the 2013-14 season…Teammates with Brandon Montour and Sam Reinhart in Buffalo from 2018-21.
Phil Kessel played with Patric Hornqvist in Pittsburgh (2015-19), and won two Stanley Cups together in 2016 and 2017.
Nick Schmaltz played for Joel Quenneville (2016-19) and with Gustav Forsling (2016-19) and Anthony Duclair (2017-18) in Chicago.
