Going for his fourth straight win, Sergei Bobrovsky will look to remain red-hot when the Panthers wrap up their five-game road swing against the Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Thursday.
Sitting at 9-2-2, Bobrovsky has gone 4-0-1 with a sublime .927 save percentage over his last five outings, including making a season-high 38 saves in a 4-2 win over Columbus on Tuesday.
Preview: Panthers, Bobrovsky Look to Keep Rolling in Columbus
"The last 5-6 games, I've felt unreal," Bobrovsky said after the hard-fought victory. "I've felt focused. I've felt strong and confident. It's fun to be around and be a part of this team. They play great hockey. Everybody delivers every night… We all pull the rope in the same direction."
Bobrovsky, who signed with the Panthers as a free agent in the summer of 2019 after spending seven seasons with the Blue Jackets, has also had plenty of success against his former club so far, going 3-1-1 with a 2.18 goals-against average and .935 save percentage in four matchups.
Overall, Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said he's seeing a lot of poise in net from Bobrovsky.
"In this stretch, he's showing more patience," Quenneville said. "He's tracking the puck a little better. I think his rebound control has been efficient. It looks like he's in control, so he's finding pucks, he's maybe out a little bit higher, as well. I think those are signs he's comfortable."
Capturing six out of a possible eight points through the first four stops on their trip, the Panthers currently reside in third place in the Central Division with a 16-5-4 record. That being said, they only trail the Hurricanes by one point for second and the Lighting by two points for the top spot.
Providing Bobrovsky with more than enough goal support in Tuesday's win, Florida came out guns a blazing against the Blue Jackets. With each forward on the team finishing with at least one shot, Juho Lammikko, Patric Hornqvist, Owen Tippett and Carter Verhaeghe all lit the lamp.
However, after falling prey to some uncharacteristic breakdowns and mental lapses toward the tail end of the game, Quenneville said he'd like to see a more complete 60-minute effort tonight.
"We had a tremendous start to the game," Quenneville said. "I thought we did a lot of great things. I thought we had a good second period, and then we made some of the most unbelievable turnovers, giveaways, lack of playing the right way that I've ever seen."
Jonathan Huberdeau currently leads Florida and ranks eighth in the NHL in scoring with 30 points, while also sitting tied with Hornqvist for the team-lead in goals with 10. Making his way onto the scoresheet in each game of the road trip thus far, Huberdeau enters tonight's matchup riding a season-high four-game point streak in which he's registered two goals and four assists.
As of right now, the Panthers rank tied for fourth in the league with 3.32 goals per game.
At the other end of the ice, the Blue Jackets believe that, despite not picking up any points in the standings, there were some good things to build upon during Tuesday's loss. After all, if not for a big night from Bobrovsky, it's likely that a few more of their 40 shots on goal would've gone in.
That being said, on the defensive side of things, they also surrendered 30 scoring chances to Florida, including 15 shot attempts from high-danger areas on the ice, per NaturalStatTrick.com.
"Last night is the most offense that we have developed in over a month," Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella told the team's official website on Wednesday. "I think we had between 18 and 20 scoring chances, but we gave up a lot, too. We need commitment on both sides."
Looking to jumpstart the Columbus' 24th-ranked offense (2.59 goals per game), Cam Atkinson and Oliver Bjorkstrand lead the team in scoring with 19 points apiece. Atkinson, who has 15 points in his last 16 games, also leads the club with 10 goals, including four shorthand tallies.
Returning to the crease after working his way back from an upper-body injured suffered on Feb. 20, Elvis Merzlikins will get the start for the Blue Jackets. Owning a 3-3-1 record behind a .917 save percentage, the 26-year-old made 33 saves in a 3-2 shootout win over Florida on Jan. 28.
At 9-2-1, the Panthers are tied for the second-most road victories in the league this season.
"We know they're going to come out hard," Panthers forward Noel Acciari said of Columbus. "We've got to come out like we did in the first 10 minutes [on Tuesday] and put a 60-minute game together and end our road trip off the right way. We want to come home with a win."
TEAM RECORDS
FLA: 16-5-4, 36 PTS
CBJ:10-12-5, 25 PTS
FLA all-time vs. CBJ: 12-14-0-10
PANTHERS NOTES
-- Aleksander Barkov sits second on Florida in scoring with 27 points (eight goals, 19 assists), including posting one goal and seven assists over his last seven games. He also leads the team in shots on goal (87), takeaways (21) and total ice time among forwards (523:34).
-- Patric Hornqvist ranks tied for first on the Panthers in goals (9). In the midst of his first season with Florida, he's producing at nearly a point-per-game clip, racking up 21 points (10 goals, 11 assists) in 24 games. In 47 career games against the Blue Jackets, he's accumulated 17 goals.
-- MacKenzie Weegar leads Florida's defensemen in points (13) and minutes (497:42) at even-strength. Additionally, he also leads the team in blocked shots (30) and sits second in hits (60).
-- Radko Gudas leads the Panthers and ranks second in the NHL with 118 hits.
-- Frank Vatrano has registered four goals over his last seven contests, with each of those goals coming in the third period. Additionally, all eight of his goals this season have come at 5-on-5.
-- Aaron Ekblad ranks second among NHL defensemen in goals (10) and first in power-play goals (5). Over his last four contests, he's racked up seven points (three goals, four assists). With one more assist, he will pass Jay Bouwmeester (150) for the third-most by a blueliner in franchise history.
-- Mason Marchment has notched five points (two goals, three assists) in his last seven games.
-- Florida boasts a 25.1 power-play percentage (2-8) and 91.7 penalty-kill percentage (11-12) in four meetings with Columbus this season.
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Forwards
Mason Marchment - Aleksander Barkov - Carter Verhaeghe
Jonathan Huberdeau - Alex Wennberg - Patric Hornqvist
Frank Vatrano - Eetu Luostarinen - Noel Acciari
Ryan Lomberg - Juho Lammikko - Owen Tippett
Defensemen
MacKenzie Weegar - Aaron Ekblad
Gustav Forsling - Radko Gudas
Keith Yandle - Markus Nutivaara
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Chris Driedger
Scratches:Riley Stillman, Vinnie Hinostroza, Anton Stralman (lower body)
Taxi squad: Brett Connolly, Grigori Denisenko, Kevin Connauton, Philippe Desrosiers
Injured reserve: Anthony Duclair (lower body), Noah Juulsen (upper body)
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
- March 9: D Markus Nutivaara was activated from IR; F Owen Tippett was recalled from the Taxi Squad.
- March 8: D Riley Stillman was recalled from the Taxi Squad; F Grigori Denisenko and D Kevin Connauton were loaned to the Taxi Squad.
- March 7: F Owen Tippett was loaned to the Taxi Squad.
HOW TO WATCH / LISTEN
When: Thursday, March 11 at 7:00 p.m. ET
Where: Nationwide Arena - Columbus, OH
TV:FOX Sports Florida
Stream:
FOX Sports GO
Radio: 560 WQAM (Dade/Broward); 850 WFTL (Palm Beach); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys) 107.9 FM / 1370 AM WZTA (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM Streaming 932
Pre-Game Listen:MacKenzie Weegar talks culture, pranks and flow on this week's episode of the Territory Talk podcast!
