WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Florida Panthers will play their first of 12 nationally televised games this season when they clash with the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on Wednesday.
The action will air on TNT and be streamed live on HBO Max.
“It’s great,” forward Ryan Lomberg said of the team’s additional exposure. “It’s not something we think about too much, but for the organization it’s huge. We’re taking strides and showing people the Florida Panthers are here to play. Any time you get the whole country watching, it’s pretty exciting.”
The Panthers enter tonight’s tilt on the heels of a blood-pumping battle against the Blue Jackets in Sunrise on Monday. After the Panthers took a 3-0 lead a little over six minutes into the game, Columbus responded with four straight goals to make it 4-3 late in the third period.
But with 56.4 seconds left in regulation, Nick Cousins gloved down an attempted clear, skated into the slot and ripped a shot past Spencer Martin to make it 4-4 and force overtime. In the extra frame, Carter “Mr. Clutch” Verhaeghe buried a rebound to secure the 5-4 win for Florida.
In the win, the Panthers recorded a season-high 98 shot attempts.
Sitting at 6-4-1, the Panthers have earned points in seven of their last nine games.
“It was a big win for us,” said defenseman Gustav Forsling, who netted his second goal of the season in the win over Columbus. “I think we were the better team and deserved the two points. It can be tough. Those games can get away from you, but we picked up a huge two points.”
Notching his sixth multi-point game of the season with two assists against the Blue Jackets, Sam Reinhart leads the Panthers in points (13) and goals (8). Not far behind Reinhart and tied for second in scoring, Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk have registered 10 points each.
Owning a 5-1-1 record over his last seven starts, Sergei Bobrovsky will start for the Panthers in D.C.
Winning four of their last five games, the Capitals improved to 5-4-1 with a 2-1 win over the Blue Jackets on Saturday. After racing out to a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals from Tom Wilson and Sonny Milano, Washington goalie Charlie Lindgren kept Columbus in check with 34 saves.
During their current five-game hot stretch, the Capitals have outscored the opposition 13-11.
“Being back in the pipes tonight felt good,” Lindgren, who was making his first start since Oct. 13 after missing some time due to an injury, told reporters after the hard-fought win. “It’s been over three weeks since I played, and to get a big win over Columbus was pretty awesome.”
Alex Ovechkin leads Washington with eight points, but hasn’t been finding the back of the net at his traditional pace early on this season. Second on the NHL’s all-time goals list with 824, the 38-year-old veteran is currently sitting on two goals, with one of them coming on the power play.
John Carlson ranks second on the Capitals in points (7) and is tied with Ovechkin for the most assists (6). Third in scoring, Dylan Strome and Wilson have each produced six points. Evgeny Kuznetsov has logged five points, but could possibly sit out tonight’s game due to an illness.
Due to Kuznetsov’s potential absence, Washington recalled Michael Sgarbossa from the AHL this morning.
Starting seven of 11 games for Washington, Darcy Kuemper could get the nod against the Panthers. In seven appearances this season, he’s gone 3-3-1 with a .899 save percentage. In his last outing, the 33-year-old stopped 18 of 21 shots in a 3-0 loss to the Islanders on Nov. 2.
Filling up the back of the net against the Capitals in 2022-23, the Panthers went a perfect 3-0-0 against Washington while scoring at least four goals in each game last season. Of those goals, six came from Reinhart and Verhaeghe, who each lit the lamp three times.
“Both teams are in really similar situations,” Cats head coach Paul Maurice said. “Both teams would be known for scoring goals, both teams have key pieces out of their lineup, and both teams kind of recent success has been defensively. They’ve given up a whole lot less at 5-on-5, as have we. Their penalty kill has been strong and ours has gotten a whole lot better. But, still, both teams have players that can score goals. It’ll be a battle of that defense tonight to see who can defend well enough to spring their best players loose.”
PREGAME QUOTES
“We’ve got to look to the things we did good. I think we supported each other all throughout the ice whether we had the puck or not. We stayed fast. We were on pucks. We know we can do it. We’ve just got to keep doing it throughout the whole game.” – Ryan Lomberg on building off a strong start against the Blue Jackets on Monday
“I think everyone has just been on the same page. We’ve been tight. You’ve got to take away time and space around the net. I think that’s what we’ve been good at.” -- Gustav Forsling on the success the Panthers have had on defense early this season
FIVE CATS STATS
- The Panthers have gone 11-3-1 in their last 15 matchups with the Capitals.
- Florida has recorded 181 shot attempts over its last two games.
- Matthew Tkachuk has recorded nine assists in 12 career games against Washington.
- Carter Verhaeghe has scored four goals in seven career games against Washington.
- Niko Mikkola ranks first on the Panthers in blocked shots (24).
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Forwards
Evan Rodrigues – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Anton Lundell – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Kevin Stenlund – Nick Cousins
Ryan Lomberg – Steven Lorentz – Will Lockwood
Defensemen
Gustav Forsling – Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Niko Mikkola – Dmitry Kulikov
Josh Mahura – Mike Reilly
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Anthony Stolarz
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
- Nov. 7: F Jonah Gadjovich loaned to Charlotte (AHL) on conditioning assignment
- Nov. 2: F Rasmus Asplund recalled from Charlotte (AHL)
- Oct. 27: F Mackie Samoskevich loaned to Charlotte (AHL)
HOW TO WATCH
When: Wednesday, Nov. 8 at 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: Capital One Arena – Washington, D.C.
TV & Streaming: TNT, HBO Max
Radio: 790 WAXY (Dade/Broward); 1230 WBZT (Palm Beach); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); 101.7 WCZR (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM App & Streaming 932; Panthers App
