SUNRISE, Fla. – No time to ease back into things.
In their first game back from a well-deserved holiday break, the Florida Panthers will battle the cross-state rival Tampa Bay Lightning at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET.
With far more on the line than just bragging rights in the Sunshine State, the Panthers (20-14-2) also trail the Lightning (20-13-3) by one point for third place in the Atlantic Division.
“This is the wild-card game of the year for all NHL teams,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “You get three days off. Everybody’s usually very tired and needs that break. Nobody hits the ice. There’s nobody throwing in extra workouts. You’re not sure what your hands are going to be. You just hope mentally that you can get back into regular-season form quickly.”
Cruising into the break, the Panthers came from behind for the second time in less than a week to stun the Carolina Hurricanes and pick up their eighth win over their last 10 games.
Trailing 2-0 entering the third period in Raleigh on Tuesday, the Panthers flipped the script and suddenly found themselves leading 4-2 less than 10 minutes into the final frame thanks to timely goals from Niko Mikkola, Luke Kunin, Anton Lundell and Sam Bennett.
Later, Seth Jones locked in the 5-2 win with a strike on the power play.
Despite missing key players, the Panthers keep finding ways to secure crucial points.
“I guess you go back to resilience,” defenseman Aaron Ekbald said. “Even though we lost guys, we were able to find a way to win some games. We had to hold on for a while, right? We could’ve dug ourselves a hole and blamed it on schedule, blame it on injuries, but we found a way to tread water and do well in the last little while. Definitely a lot of positives there.”
Brad Marchand leads the Panthers in goals (20), assists (21) and points (41), while Sam Reinhart ranks second in scoring with 38 points (19G, 19A). Entering tonight’s matchup on a six-game point streak, Marchand has posted 10 points (4G, 6A) during that torrid stretch.
After missing the last two games with a lower-body injury, Mackie Sasmokevich participated in this morning’s skate and is a game-time decision to play tonight.
“We expect it,” Maurice said of the young sniper’s availability.
On a personal six-game winning streak, Sergei Bobrovsky, who ranks tied for first among NHL goaltenders with 16 games, will get the nod in net against the Lightning. In two starts against Tampa Bay this season, he’s posted a 1-1-0 record with a .915 save percentage.
After snapping out of a three-game losing streak, the Lightning entered the break with wins over the Hurricanes (6-4) and St. Louis Blues (4-1).
In their win over the Blues on Monday, Darren Raddysh earned first-star honors and led Tampa Bay with a goal and two assists, while Andrei Vasilevksiy stopped 23 of 24 shots.
Nikita Kucherov leads the Lightning with 45 points (13G, 32A), with Jake Guentzel sitting second with 38 points (17G, 21) and Brandon Hagel in third with 31 points (18G, 13A).
Of Kucherov and Guentzel’s points, a combined 26 have come on the power play.
In December, Florida’s penalty kill is operating a stalwart 89.7%.
“Especially that first unit, they have really good options there,” forward Eetu Luostarinen said of Tampa Bay’s power play. “You have to know what spots they’re playing and who’s on the ice. Just playing hard, that same mentality as 5-on-5, just bring that on the penalty kill.”
Like the Panthers, the Lightning are also banged up at the moment.
With top-pair defenseman Victor Hedman already on injured reserve, forward Brandon Hagel (upper body) and defenseman Ryan McDonagh (undisclosed) are also expected to sit out tonight.
Filling the void, forward Scott Sabourin, who was at the center of a preseason altercation with the Panthers, and defenseman Steven Santini were recalled from the AHL on Saturday.
Opposite Bobrovsky, Andrei Vasilevskiy will be between the pipes for the Lightning.
Enjoying an expected return to form this season for Tampa Bay, the “Big Cat” owns a 13-7-2 record to go along with a 2.32 goals-against average .915 save percentage and one shutout.
Splitting their first two games this season, the Panthers came out on top in their last meeting with the Lightning, earning a 5-2 win on Dec. 15 at Benchmark International Arena.
As always, the latest Battle of Florida is shaping up to be entertaining as ever.
“I think it’s going to be another great battle,” Ekblad said. “They always are against this team. We know up and down their lineup that they compete, and it’s important that we match that energy.”
THEY SAID IT
“He kills an awful lot of plays. The two guys that play with him get the benefit of getting a puck when the other team is at a deficit. They’ve tried to do something offensively; he kills the play. They’re still in that offensive positioning, and now there’s a broken play. There’s a place for us to attack” – Paul Maurice on Evan Rodrigues’ work as a third-line center
“Carrying that momentum and joy into the holiday break is always nice. You’re bringing it to bed with you and feeling it through those days. It was nice, for sure.” – Aaron Ekblad on heading into the holiday break on a high note
“It’s going to be another intense game, which we like.” – Eetu Luostarinen on tonight’s tilt with Tampa Bay
FIVE CATS STATS
- The Panthers rank fourth in the NHL with 41 goals scored in December.
- Sam Bennett and Carter Verhaeghe have each scored seven goals in December.
- Seth Jones leads Florida’s defensemen with 21 points (6G, 15A).
- Aaron Ekblad has blocked a team-high 60 shots.
- Anton Lundell leads Florida’s centers with a 51.8% success rate in the faceoff circle.
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
FORWARDS
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Brad Marchand
Mackie Samoskevich – Evan Rodrigues – A.J. Greer
Noah Gregor – Luke Kunin – Jesper Boqvist
DEFENSEMEN
Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones
Uvis Balinskis – Jeff Petry
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Daniil Tarasov
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
- Dec. 1: F Jack Studnicka was recalled from Charlotte (AHL)
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
When: Saturday, December 27 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
TV & Streaming: WSFL, WHDT, WFTX, PanthersPlus.TV
Radio: 560 WQAM-AM (Dade/Broward); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); 101.7 WCZR (Treasure Coast); Panthers GameDay App; SiriusXM App & Streaming 931
Tickets: Click Here
