The Panthers have gotten off to a strong start through the first quarter of the season. They enter tonight's game with 27 points (11-5-5), second place in the Atlantic Division behind the Boston Bruins (31 points). They've gone 6-3-1 over their past 10 games and bring a two-game winning streak into tonight's matchup. Florida earned a 5-2 victory at home over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night with several players extending point streaks. Brett Connolly posted a goal and an assist in the win, extending his point streak to three games (2g/2a) and Mike Hoffman extended his streak to five games with a goal (3g/3a). Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 35 of 37 shots to improve his record this season to 8-4-4 with a 3.44 goals-against average and .887 save percentage.
Florida has gone 5-2-1 in the month of November, ranking second in the NHL in power-play goals (9). Overall, the Panthers average the second-most goals per game (3.62) and have taken the third-most shots per game (34.2) in the league. Jonathan Huberdeau has points in all but four of the Panthers' 21 games this season. The 26-year-old center leads the team in points (28), co-leads in goals (10) and ranks second in assists (18).
The Ducks, meanwhile, bring a 10-10-2 record into tonight's contest, but have earned points in three of their four games against the Atlantic Division this season (2-1-1) with victories over the Buffalo Sabres (5-2 on Oct. 16) and Detroit Red Wings (3-2 on Oct. 8). They're in the midst of 10 games over a 20-day stretch that concludes on Black Friday (Nov. 29). The Ducks have gone 1-1-0 thus far on this four-game road trip, which concludes on Saturday in Tampa.
Anaheim has won a franchise-tying three straight games over Florida for the second time in club history dating to Nov. 19, 2017. The Ducks swept the two-game series last season, including a 3-2 victory in the most recent meeting on March 17, 2019 at Honda Center. Ryan Getzlaf leads active Ducks in career scoring vs. Florida with 14 points (4g/10a) in 15 games. Both Getzlaf (three assists) and Nick Ritchie (2g/1a) have three points in their last two games vs. the Panthers, while Adam Henrique has points in both his games as a Duck against Florida (1g/1a). These clubs will meet once more on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at Honda Center.
