SUNRISE, Fla. – Fresh off a stellar road trip, the Florida Panthers will kick off a three-game homestand when they host the Los Angeles Kings at Amerant Bank Arena on Wednesday.
Entering tonight’s tilt just two points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, the Panthers sit at 17-13-2 in the standings after posting a 3-1-0 record on their four-game trek.
On the trip, the Panthers earned impressive wins over Dallas (4-0) and Tampa Bay (5-2).
“Those were probably two of our best games of the year,” said forward Sam Bennett, who scored three goals during the trip. “I thought we did everything we wanted to. We had all four lines going. We got to playing our style, which is aggressive, in-your-face hockey.”
In addition to Bennett, who’s been on fire as of late, four other Panthers also produced at or equal to a point-per-game pace during the team’s successful road trip: Carter Verhaeghe (2G, 3A), Sam Reinhart (2G, 3A), Brad Marchand (3G, 1A) and Anton Lundell (3G, 1A).
Having one of the best seasons of his career at 37 years old, Marchand paces the Panthers in goals (19) and points (35). Not far behind in either category, Reinhart ranks second in goals (17) and points (32), while Verhaeghe is third in scoring with 26 points (10G, 16A).
After exiting Monday’s win over the Lightning with what initially looked like a scary injury after blocking a shot from Nikita Kucherov with his arm, top-pair defenseman Gustav Forsling is “good,” according to head coach Paul Maurice and is expected to be in the lineup against the Kings.
In net, Daniil Tarasov will get the start for Florida.
Over his last five starts, Tarasov boasts a 2-3-0 record with a .905 save percentage.
“We found a way to persevere after a loss and that’s extremely important in this league,” Aaron Ekblad said after the win in Tampa. “We feel pretty confident in our game right now.”
Falling to fourth in the Pacific Division with a record of 14-9-9, the Kings have lost each of their last three games, with those of those defeats coming in overtime. In their most-recent outing, they suffered a 4-1 loss at Dallas, the first stop on their current three-game journey.
Adrian Kempe leads the Kings in scoring with 28 points (11G, 17A), while Kevin Fiala ranks second with 22 points (11G, 11A). Quinton Byfield, who missed Monday’s loss to the Stars due to an illness, is third on the team in scoring with 19 points (4G, 15A).
Not the most-potent offense, the Kings are averaging the fifth-fewest goals per game in the NHL at 2.59.
Suiting up in his 20th and final season in the NHL, Anze Kopitar, a two-time Stanley Cup champion and two-time winner of the Selke Trophy, will bring his retirement tour to South Florida and play his final regular-season game against the Panthers tonight.
A future Hall of Famer, Kopitar has tallied 1,294 points (446G, 848A) in 1,482 career games.
"He's an unbelievable player,” Bennett said. “He's got an incredible resume. One of those guys that's just really well respected around the league. He’s a guy that, as a centerman, a guy that I can look up to and model my game after. He’s had a hell of a career.”
With Darcy Kuemper recently being placed on injured reserve, the Kings are likely to turn to Anton Forsberg for their goaltending duties against the Panthers. In 10 appearances this season, Forsberg has posted a 4-3-3- record with a .893 save percentage and one shutout.
Meeting for the second and final time this season, the Panthers cruised a 5-2 win over the Kings in their first matchup back on Nov. 6 at Crypto.com Arena. Marchand scored a pair of goals in the win, while Niko Mikkola chipped in a pair of assists from the blue line.
Overall, the Panthers have won each of their last two home games against Los Angeles.
THEY SAID IT
“It’s been difficult navigating different lines, different combinations, with lots of injuries to start the year. It’s tough when you’re trying to find different combinations, but I think we’ve got to a spot where guys are feeling good about their games.” – Sam Bennett
“How they (the Kings) won two Stanley Cups is they were hard defensive teams that played hard. He’s (Anze Kopitar) the captain, the driver. There’s no cheat in his game.” – Paul Maurice
FIVE CATS STATS
- The Panthers have five different players with at least 10 goals.
- The Panthers are 8-1-1 when Anton Lundell scores a goal this season.
- Sam Reinhart has scored 11 goals in 18 games at home this season.
- Brad Marchand has logged 28 points (18G, 10A) in 24 career games vs. Los Angeles.
- Florida is surrendering the sixth-fewest shots on goal per game (26.6).
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
FORWARDS
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Brad Marchand
A.J. Greer – Evan Rodrigues – Mackie Samoskevich
Luke Kunin – Noah Gregor – Jesper Boqvist
DEFENSEMEN
Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones
Uvis Balinskis – Jeff Petry
Goaltenders
Daniil Tarasov
Sergei Bobrovsky
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
- Dec. 1: F Jack Studnicka was recalled from Charlotte (AHL)
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
When: Wednesday, December 17 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
TV & Streaming: WSFL, WHDT, WFTX, PanthersPlus.TV
Radio: 104.3 WQAM-FM/560 WQAM-AM (Dade/Broward); 106.3 WESP-FM (Palm Beach); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); 101.7 WCZR (Treasure Coast); Panthers GameDay App; SiriusXM App & Streaming 931
Tickets: Click Here
