PREVIEW: Acciari set to make season debut at Minnesota

ST. PAUL -Noel Acciari is expected to make his season debut when the Panthers continue their three-game road trip with a matchup against the Wild at Xcel Energy Center on Friday.
Putting in countless hours of work to come back sooner than expected after suffering an upper-body injury during the preseason, Acciari will likely be deployed on the fourth line in Minnesota.

"I'm excited for him," Panthers interim head coach Andrew Brunette said. "He really put the time in to rehab. It wasn't an easy process. He's ahead of schedule, so kudos for him. He's a big part of our group. He's such a good teammate and will do anything it takes to help the team win."
In addition to being a regular on the penalty kill, Acciari, who had been skating with the Panthers during practice since early January, recorded 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in 41 games last season, while also pacing the team's forwards in both hits (91) and blocked shots (63).
"He's a huge part of this team," Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said. "It was tough to see him go down early in training camp and missing him for such a long time. But now he's back and the boys are excited to see him. He took the optional skate today, so that's a good sign."
Not skipping a beat in their return from a more than two-week break, the Panthers opened up their road trip with an exhilarating 3-2 win in overtime at Carolina on Wednesday. Trailing 2-1 in the third period, Sam Reinhart scored the game-tying with less than a minute left on the clock after the Panthers pulled their goalie for the extra attacker to get the game to the extra frame.
Turning one point into two just 16 seconds into overtime, Aaron Ekblad collected a long saucer pass from Jonathan Huberdeau, who is third in the NHL in scoring with 66 points, and beat all-star goalie Frederik Andersen with a shot off his backhand on a breakaway to lock in the victory.
Improving to 33-10-5 and reclaiming first place in the Atlantic Division, the Panthers, who have won 15 of their last 19 games, held the Hurricanes to just two shots on goal in the third period.
"Just keep building," Barkov said. "Obviously that was our first game in two weeks. There were moments where you saw a little rust, but overall I think it was a good team game. We played against a really good team and got a win, found a way to win and played a really solid game."
Looking to extend his personal winning streak to five games, Sergei Bobrovsky will man the crease for the Panthers in Minnesota. Owning an outstanding 24-4-3 record with a .919 save percentage, the veteran netminder has gone 9-1-0 with a .922 save percentage since Jan. 8.
Fresh off scoring a big goal at Carolina, Reinhart will hit the ice for the 500th game of his NHL career tonight. In his first season with the Panthers, the versatile forward, who was acquired from Buffalo in the offseason. sits second on the team with 45 points (17 goals, 28 assists).
"I knew it was close after the break," Reinhart said of the milestone. "It's exciting. It goes by fast, but at the end of the day it's just another [game]. We've got another tough test tonight."
A tough test indeed.
In second place in the Central Division with a record of 30-12-3, the Wild has won eight of its last 10 games, but enters tonight's matchup looking to rebound from a 6-3 loss at Winnipeg in on Wednesday in which Mark Scheifele powered the Jets to a convincing win with a hat trick.
"We didn't like our game right from the start," Wild coach Dean Evason said after the loss. "We didn't finish checks, we were going a lot of east-west, and Winnipeg did a lot of really good things again against us, as far as, we didn't get inside as much as our group does get inside."
Kirill Kaprizov, the league's reigning Calder Trophy winner, leads Minnesota in goals (22), assists (37) and points (59). After him, three other players on the team have surpassed the 30-point mark already this season: Mats Zuccarello (48), Kevin Fiala (37) and Ryan Hartman (35).
Between the pipes, Cam Talbot, who has played in two of the last three games, has started 29 games this season, posting a 19-9-1 record with a .912 save percentage. Sharing the load in net, Kaapo Kahkonen has suited up in 16 games, going 11-3-2 with a .921 save percentage.
Historically known for being a defense-first team, the Wild has altered that narrative quite a bit this season and currently ranks third in the league on offense with an average of 3.78 goals per game -- a number that trails only the Avalanche (3.96) and Panthers (4.06) on the leaderboard.
In their only previous meeting this season, Florida hung on for a 5-4 win in Sunrise on Nov. 20.
"They just didn't go away," Brunette said while looking back on that hard-fought matchup. "That's kind of how they've been all year. We felt that we did everything we wanted to do, and they were still right on our heels. That's kind of been the story for them this season."
For Brunette, tonight's game will be extra special.
Prior to joining the Panthers in 2019-20, he held numerous different positions with the Wild. After spending 489 of his 1,110 career NHL games in Minnesota, he worked with the team as a special assistant to the GM and then later as an assistant coach in both 2014-15 and 2015-16.
He also served as assistant GM (2017-18) and director of player personnel (2018-19).
"Obviously it's a little emotional to see all the people that you played with," said Brunette, who will be behind the bench as a head coach for the first time in Minnesota tonight. "It's not easy."
Already the best home team in the NHL, Florida is 5-2-0 on the road over its last seven games.

PANTHERS PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)

Forwards
Carter Verhaeghe - Aleksander Barkov - Anthony Duclair
Jonathan Huberdeau - Sam Bennett - Patric Hornqvist
Mason Marchment - Anton Lundell - Sam Reinhart
Ryan Lomberg - Eetu Luostarinen - Noel Acciari
Defensemen
MacKenzie Weegar - Aaron Ekblad
Gustav Forsling - Radko Gudas
Lucas Carlsson - Brandon Montour
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Jonas Johansson

WHO'S HOT

Panthers:Sam Reinhart has 14 points (six goals, eight assists) over his last nine games. … Mason Marchment has 12 points (six goals, six assists) over his last six games. … Jonathan Huberdeau has 13 points (two goals, 11 assists) over his last nine games. … Aleksander Barkov has 13 points (seven goals, six assists) over his last nine games. … Anton Lundell has eight points (one goal, seven assists) over his last six games. … Aaron Ekblad has eight points (one goal, seven assists) over his last seven games.
Wild: Mats Zuccarello has 21 points (six goals, 15 assists) over his last 12 games. … Kirill Kaprizov has 26 points (11 goals, 15 assists) over his last 15 games. … Kevin Fiala has 10 points (four goals, six assists) over his last eight games. … Matt Boldy has 10 points (five goals, five assists) over his last eight games.

THEY SAID IT

"This is when the fun kind of starts. Everybody was excited for the first half and the break, and now everybody's excited for the second half. It's fun to be part of a group that has this energy and wants to get better as the season continues."- Panthers defenseman Radko Gudas on the team's second-half push.
"We've expected our group and seen our group respond after games like this, and we expect them to do the same regardless of who we're going to play next."- Wild head coach Dean Evason on bouncing back after Wednesday's loss at Winnipeg.

FIVE CATS STATS

• Florida's seven overtime goals are tied for the third-most in one season in club history.
  - The Panthers have scored a league-leading 195 goals, including 136 at 5-on-5.
  - Aaron Ekblad ranks sixth among NHL defensemen in scoring with 43 points (11 goals, 32 assists).
  - Anton Lundell leads all NHL rookies with a +26 rating.
  - Sergei Bobrovsky owns a 5-1-0 record over his past six road games.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

• Feb. 17: D Chase Priskie loaned to Charlotte (AHL)
  - Feb. 16: F Joe Thornton placed on IR
  - Feb. 16: D Olli Juolevi, F Noel Acciari and F Patric Hornqvist activated off IR
  - Feb. 15: D Chase Priskie placed on IR
  - Feb. 7: G Mack Guzda signed to a three-year, entry-level contract

PANTHERS NEWS

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POSTCARD: Carlsson on epic stick saves, second-half push & more 
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5 TAKEAWAYS: Ekblad lifts Panthers to OT win, series sweep of Hurricanes 
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Territory Talk: Marchment talks breakout season, six-point game more!
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Panthers and X Rocker Team Up to Host NHL 22 Tournament
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Panthers IceDen to Host 2022 Liberty Bell Games 

HOW TO WATCH / LISTEN

When:Friday, Feb. 18 at 8 p.m. ET
Where:Xcel Energy Center - St. Paul, MN
TV & Streaming: Hulu, ESPN+
Radio: 560 WQAM (Dade/Broward); 640 WMEN (Palm Beach); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); SiriusXM App & Streaming 932