PANTHERS (17-18-5) at BLUE JACKETS (23-16-3) 5 p.m. ET; FS-O, FS-F, NHL.TV
The Panthers have lost two straight games following a season-long five-game winning streak. Goaltender James Reimer is 0-2-0 with seven goals allowed in his past two starts after five consecutive wins, when he allowed six goals and had two shutouts. The Blue Jackets have been shut out twice in losing two of their past three games. They have scored two goals, both by forward Oliver Bjorkstrand in the third period of a 2-1 win at the Dallas Stars on Tuesday. Columbus is 1-3-1 in its past five games and 3-5-2 in its past 10.
Players to watch
Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov scored his 12th goal of the season and took 10 shots, his NHL high, in a 4-2 loss at the Detroit Red Wings on Friday. He leads the League with four shorthanded goals. Blue Jackets forward Josh Anderson has one goal in his past eight games, but leads Columbus with 14 goals.
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They said it
"We need to clean up some of the mistakes in front of our net and be a relentless team on the puck [Sunday]." -- Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad "You can't get down. I know it hasn't gone our way a couple of these games. You just have to find a way to keep pushing through, everybody individually and as a team, and things will start righting themselves." -- Blue Jackets forward Nick Foligno
Reimer is expected to make his 14th straight start since Luongo's injury Dec. 4 against the New York Islanders. … Vrbata may return after missing four games.
Stat pack
Trocheck has 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in his past 14 games. … Panarin has 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) in his past 14 games. … Foligno has no goals in his past 10 games. … The Blue Jackets are 1-for-16 on the power play in their past five games. They are last in the NHL at 11.4 percent.
