SUNRISE, Fla. – Saturday night’s alright for fighting.
In a battle between two of the NHL’s top teams, the Florida Panthers will close out their three-game homestand with a matchup against the Colorado Avalanche at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.
For the Panthers, it’s a challenge they’re looking forward to.
“They’re a quick, heavy team like we are,” said Florida forward Evan Rodrigues, who spent the 2022-23 season hitting the ice as a member of the Avalanche. “It’ll be a game just like [our last game].”
If that’s the case, the Panthers should be in line for two more points tonight.
Getting their first win after the All-Star break, the Panthers, despite a back-and-forth first period, found their game in the final two periods of a 4-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Thursday.
Ryan Lomberg capped off an outstanding night for the fourth line – a trio head coach Paul Maurice described as “driving the bus” against Washington – by beating goaltender Darcy Kuemper with a one-timer from the slot late in the period to put the Panthers up 3-2 and essentially lock in the win.
Matthew Tkachuk led the Panthers with three points (one goal, two assists) against the Capitals, while Sam Reinhart netted his league-leading 21st goal of the season on the power play and Eetu Luostarinen added an empty-netter in the final minute of regulation to send fans home happy.
In net, Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves, including stopping a penalty shot in the first period.
“I thought we played to our identity,” Rodrigues. “We were hard on the forecheck, and we were hard on our reloads. I thought we took control of that game early in the second and kept it all the way to the finish. I think that was a statement game for our group, just to kind of give us that confidence, and we look to build from here.”
Speaking of building, the Panthers will have new lines against Avalanche.
Sticking with how they looked in the third period against Washington, Carter Verhaeghe will be with Aleksander Barkov and Reinhart, Nick Cousins will slide up to play with Tkachuk and Sam Bennett, Rodrigues will join Luostarinen and Lundell, and the fourth line will remain intact after its big night.
For more on these new-look combinations, click here to read yesterday’s practice notebook.
Remaining in the second spot in the Atlantic Division behind the Boston Bruins (32-10-9) with their win over Washington, the Panthers (32-15-4) enter tonight’s game just five points out of first place.
With another goal against the Capitals, Reinhart increased his career-high goal tally to 38 on the season, trailing only Toronto’s Auston Matthews (41) for the most in the NHL. A threat to light the lamp every time he touches the ice, Reinhart has touched the twine in five of his last six games.
On quite the heater since Jan. 1, Tkachuk ranks tied for first in the NHL with 27 points (12 goals, 15 assists) since the calendar flipped to 2024 and has tallied seven multi-point games in that span.
Set to make his second straight start after shutting down the Capitals, Bobrovsky, looking sharp as ever since returning from the All-Star Game, will man the crease against Colorado. In his career against the Avalanche, the savvy veteran has posted a 11-4-2 record with a .906 save percentage.
Arriving to South Florida tied with the Dallas Stars for first place in the Central Division, the Avalanche (32-16-4) are also tied with Florida for the fourth-most points in the NHL with 68.
Given where both teams are in the standings, the term “heavyweight fight” is appropriate.
“I think you come in very excited because you know both teams are going to have the same risk profile,” said Panthers head coach Paul Maurice. “We’re going to respect each other's offensive game. We're respectful of what they can do with their skill and speed, but not at the expense of what we're going to try to do.”
Not far removed from the Stanley Cup in 2022, the Avalanche will be pushing for a win after suffering their third straight loss with a 5-2 defeat against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday.
During their three-game skid, they’ve been outscored 12-6.
That being said, Colorado has no shortage of star power that can quickly turn things around.
A likely Hart Trophy finalist, forward Nathan MacKinnon has been on fire from the moment the season began and currently has the second-most points in the NHL with 85 (32 goals, 53 assists).
MacKinnon is also tied with Tkachuk for the most points in the NHL since Jan. 1 with 27.
“He's a freak,” said Rodrigues of his former teammate. “There's no one in the league like him that can be that powerful, that strong, that fast. You just try to contain him as much as you can.”
On the back end, Cale Makar is having another Norris Trophy-worthy season with 60 points (13 goals, 47 assists), just four behind Vancouver’s Quinn Hughes for most among NHL defensemen.
In the last matchup between Florida and Colorado, on Jan. 6 at Ball Arena, the Cats filled up the back of the net en route to an 8-4 win behind a hat trick from Reinhart and a four-goal third period.
Their final meeting this season, the Panthers have their sights set on a season sweep tonight.
PREGAME QUOTES
“I thought when Rodrigues went with Lundell, that game took off. I liked that line. They had some quickness and looked different from our other lines. We’ve seen the offensive-zone play by Cousins with the Bennett line be very, very good, and then a change in speed in some ways with Barkov [back with Verhaeghe]. Just wanted to change things up.” – Paul Maurice
“The rest of us feed off of that when they're [the fourth line] going and when they're laying big hits, it gives you an extra kind of boost and maybe go do it yourself. – Evan Rodrigues
FIVE CATS STATS
- Matthew Tkachuk (one goal, three assists) and Aleksander Barkov (four assists) each had four points in the Panthers’ last matchup with the Avalanche on Jan. 6 at Ball Arena.
- Paul Maurice is tied with Ken Hitchcock for fifth-most regular season wins in NHL history with 849.
- The Panthers lead the league in empty-net goals with 16.
- Evan Rodrigues currently sits at a career-best +16 plus/minus rating.
- Niko Mikkola leads the Panthers with 118 hits.
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Forwards
Carter Verhaeghe – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Nick Cousins – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Evan Rodrigues
Jonah Gadjovich – Kevin Stenlund – Ryan Lomberg
Defensemen
Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Brandon Montour
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Dmitry Kulikov
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Anthony Stolarz
HOW TO WATCH
When: Saturday, Feb. 10 at 6 p.m. ET
Where: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
TV & Streaming: Bally Sports Florida, Bally Sports+
Radio: 790 WAXY (Dade/Broward); 92.1 WZZR (Palm Beach); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); 101.7 WCZR (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM Channel 219; App & Streaming 932; Panthers App
Tickets: Here
