SUNRISE, Fla. – The Florida Panthers will attempt to get back into the win column when they host the Minnesota Wild at Amerant Bank Arena on Friday.
“It’s going to be a physical game,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. “They’ve got a whole bunch of guys that finish their checks. That should drive the pace.”
Gaining a tighter and tighter grip on second place in the Atlantic Division, the Panthers have gone 9-1-2 over their last 13 games to improve to 27-13-4 on the season. That being said, they’ve dropped each of their last three games after winning nine straight.
Going to the extra frame in each of their last two games, the Panthers feel they’ve left at least a couple points on the table, including in Wednesday’s 3-2 overtime loss to Detroit.
Leading 2-1 in the third period on goals from Sam Reinhart and Gustav Forsling, the Panthers – thanks to a few head-scratching calls late in regulation – ended up with just one point as Dylan Larkin scored at 1:09 of overtime on the power play to win it for Detroit.
In defeat, Florida led 36-10 in scoring chances.
Standing tall for Detroit, Alex Lyon stopped 32 of 34 shots.
“Just try to play our game for 60 minutes,” Panthers forward Kevin Stenlund said. “I think we were a bit sloppy, forgot how to play a bit in the last game. We’ll just focus on that.”
Aleksander Barkov will be absent from the lineup tonight for the second straight game as the Panthers captain continues to recover from a lower-body injury. While the injury isn’t expected to be serious, the Panthers aren’t putting him back in until he’s 100%.
In 40 games, Barkov has logged 46 points (11 goals, 35 assists).
“We’re not putting him in until we know it’s not coming back,” Maurice said.
Matching his career-high goal total of 33 with a shorthanded strike against the Red Wings, Reinhart enters tonight’s tilt riding a franchise-record, eight-game goal streak.
Setting a new NHL record, he’s also scored on special teams in each of those games.
Joining Reinhart at the 2024 NHL All-Star Game, Sergei Bobrovsky will man the crease against the Wild. Fourth in the NHL in wins (21), the two-time Vezina Trophy winner has gone 7-1-1 while turning aside 225 of 246 shots (.915%) over his last nine appearances.
“He’s a special pro,” Stenlund said of Bobrovsky.
Needing a strong second half to get back into the playoff race, the Wild currently sits at 18-21-5 and has lost five of its last six games, including a 7-3 defeat at Tampa Bay less than 24 hours ago on Thursday.
Trailing 4-3 after two periods, the Wild surrendered three goals in the third period as the Lightning pulled away. In the loss, Joel Eriksson Ek, Marco Rossi and Jake Middleton lit the lamp for Minnesota, while Filip Gustavsson allowed seven goals on 38 shots.
“It’s about the management and understanding time and score and the situations,” Minnesota head coach John Hynes told reporters after the loss. “Tonight, when it was in the balance — down by one, down by two — we shot ourselves in the foot.”
Kirill Kaprizov leads the Wild in scoring with 36 points (13 goals, 23 assists). In second, Mats Zuccarello has produced 33 points (seven goals, 26 assists). Due to a hip injury, Minnesota will be without captain Jared Spurgeon for the remainder of the campaign.
Fresh off blanking the New York Islanders to earn his 552nd career win and pass Patrick Roy for second place on the NHL’s all-time list, Marc-Andre Fleury is expected to get the nod in net against the Panthers after backing up Gustavsson in Tampa.
In 22 appearances this season, Fleury has gone 8-9-3 with a .897 save percentage.
Wrapping up their season series, the Panthers last saw the Wild in their first game of the season all the way back on Oct. 12. Losing 2-0, the Panthers played more than well enough to win in that game, finishing with a huge 43-18 advantage in scoring chances.
From then until now, Stenlund believes the Panthers have made great strides.
“We’re more connected now than we were in the beginning,” he said. “There’s more trust in the team, too. Guys know what to expect and stuff like that. It’s been big growth.”
PREGAME QUOTES
“Our zone splits are good. We’re not spending too much time in our own end. Our chances for and against, there’s a big disparity at 5-on-5. That’s good, but not great. We’re in that part right now where the teams coming in are in that high 40-point range and fighting for their lives. We need to try and match that.” – Paul Maurice
“We all know what we can do, how hard we can play and how good we can play. Just get back to that, and we’ll be fine.” – Kevin Stenlund
“I think there’s a lot in our game that’s right. I think there’s a few things we just have to adjust. I think the intensity for us is going to be high tonight.” – Will Lockwood
FIVE CATS STATS
- Matthew Tkachuk has recorded at least one point in nine of his last 10 games.
- The Panthers have scored a goal on special teams in 12 consecutive games.
- The Panthers have gone 8-0-1 in games in which Sam Bennett has scored.
- Carter Verhaeghe has tallied a goal and an assist in seven of his last 12 games.
- Gustav Forsling is two assists away from his 100th NHL assist.
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Forwards
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Evan Rodrigues – Kevin Stenlund – Ryan Lomberg
Jonah Gadjovich – Steven Lorentz – Will Lockwood
Defensemen
Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Brandon Montour
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Dmitry Kulikov
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Anthony Stolarz
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
- Jan. 17: F Rasmus Asplund recalled from Charlotte (AHL)
- Jan. 10: F Mackie Samoskevich loaned to Charlotte (AHL)
HOW TO WATCH
When: Friday, Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
TV & Streaming: Bally Sports Florida, Bally Sports+
Radio: 790 WAXY (Dade/Broward); 1230 WBZT (Palm Beach); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); 101.7 WCZR (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM Channel 221 / App & Streaming 932; Panthers App
Tickets: Here
Theme Night: Star Wars Night
