SUNRISE, Fla. – Less than 24 hours after their battle in Raleigh, the Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes will face-off again at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET.
In their first go-around, the Panthers finished strong in a 6-3 win on Friday.
Tied 3-3 after a back-and-forth 40 minutes of action, the Panthers were in full control during the third period, leading the Hurricanes 3-0 in goals and 13-5 in scoring chances.
Spreading out the offense, six different Panthers lit the lamp in the win: Jesper Boqvist, Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe, A.J. Greer, Anton Lundell and Sam Bennett. Leading the NHL with 18 goals, Reinhart, who netted 57 last season, has scored in five of his last six games.
Between the pipes, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 of 31 shots.
“Pretty solid there in the third,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “We were right on decisions to get pucks deeps, but there was still some creativity, and we were making plays.”
Leading the Atlantic Division at 14-9-1, the Panthers have now rebounded from a tough early-season stretch with impressive wins over the Toronto Maple Leafs and Hurricanes.
In those two wins, they outscored the opposition 11-4.
“I think we’re starting to get some momentum going,” Verhaeghe said. “I think we’ve played good back-to-back games and just want to keep going and build from it.”
Sitting at 16-6-1, the Hurricanes had five of their previous seven games before being beaten by the Panthers on Friday. Even though they gave up six goals in that loss, Carolina remains one of the top defensive teams in the NHL, allowing just 2.74 goals per game on average.
Martin Necas leads both the Hurricanes and the entire NHL in scoring with 37 points (12 goals, 25 assists). Sebastian Aho ranks second on the team with 25 points (seven goals, 18 assist), while Shayne Gostisbehere resides in third with 19 points (five goals, 14 assists).
After missing seven games with an injury, Seth Jarvis has scored in three straight games.
As of right now, Carolina’s biggest concern is in net.
With Frederik Andersen (lower body) and Pyotr Kochetkov (concussion protocol) both sidelined by injuries, Spencer Martin and Yaniv Perets have been shouldering the load. With Martin making 24 saves on Friday, there’s a chance that Perets gets the call in today’s rematch.
Only 24 years old, Perets has appeared in just one NHL game in his career.
If the Hurricanes decide to stick with Martin, the Panthers will hope he’s a bit fatigued.
In Florida’s net, Spencer Knight is likely to start after backing up Bobrovsky in Raleigh.
Over his last four starts, Knight has given up two or fewer goals three times.
More lineup information should be available closer to puck drop.
THEY SAID IT
“I think there’s a lot of potential with that idea.” – Paul Maurice on Mackie Samoskevich getting time on the top power-play unit
“We want to be a good third period team, and we liked our game. I just thought we had to stick with it.” – Carter Verhaeghe on a strong a finish during Friday’s win
FIVE CATS STATS
- Since Jan. 1, 2024, Sam Reinhart leads all NHL skaters in both power play goals (22) and shorthanded goals (7).
- Carter Verhaeghe has recorded four points (2G, 2A) in his last two games.
- Sam Bennett has scored an empty-net goal in each of the last two games.
- Mackie Samoskevich has scored a team-high three game-winning goals this season.
- Matthew Tkachuk is six points away from his 600th NHL point.
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Forwards
Evan Rodrigues – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Jesper Boqvist
A.J. Greer – Tomas Nosek – Mackie Samoskevich
Defensemen
Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Nate Schmidt
Dmitry Kulikov – Adam Boqvist
Goaltenders
Spencer Knight
Sergei Bobrovsky
RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
- Nov. 4: Signed F Gracyn Sawchyn to an entry-level contract
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
When: Saturday, Nov. 30 at 4 p.m. ET
Where: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
Radio: 104.3 WFS (Dade/Broward); 1230 WBZT (Palm Beach); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); Panthers App; SiriusXM App & Streaming 931
Tickets: Click Here
