SUNRISE, Fla. – The Florida Panthers will look to keep on filling up the net when they kick off their two-game homestand against the Vancouver Canucks at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday.
Improving to 3-2-2, the Panthers ended their quick road trip in spectacular fashion with a 7-3 win at Columbus.
“It just proves that when you're around it, you're doing the right things and you're playing faster,” forward Matthew Tkachuk said. “It's not necessarily moving faster, but just the puck moving faster. Having somebody at the net, good things can happen, especially on the power play. Then that happened. It seemed like at 5-on-5 we were a little bit quicker, and we had more guys at the net that led to a little bit more success last game, for sure.”
On a five-game losing streak, the Canucks enter tonight’s matchup at 2-6-0.
In their last outing, they suffered a 3-2 loss at the New York Islanders on Tuesday.
“They're desperate after the last few games, and that's the challenge right there,” Tkachuk said. “We’re playing a team that's been on the road for a little bit that needs this win. And us, coming back, we haven't played very many home games and we lost our first one, so we should be desperate as well.”
For more information on tonight’s game, continue below.
EYE ON THE CATS
INJURY UPDATES: Jacob Markstrom and Radko Gudas remain day-to-day with injuries. Markstrom participated in morning skate, while Gudas hopped on the ice after. While they could return sooner, the Panthers are targeting Oct. 21 at Ottawa as their first game back.
MAX POWER: The power play came back to life in a big way for the Panthers during their two-game road trip. After going 2-for-4 against the Sabres, they went 4-for-6 in Columbus. Hitting the road with a 3.6% success rate, the Panthers have now returned home at a solid 18.4%. Over the last two games, Matthew Tkachuk has tallied a team-high five points on the power play, while three other players have registered four points with the extra attacker.
STREAKING 19: Matthew Tkachuk is on a heater. On a six-game point streak, No. 19 has racked up 10 points (3G, 7A) to take over first place on Florida’s scoring leaderboard. In Tuesday’s win over the Blue Jackets, he matched a career high with five points – all of them coming in the form of assists, including three that set up goals for his brother, Brady. In his career against the Canucks, Tkachuk has posted 35 points (15G, 20A) in 37 contests.
SAM SCORES: Sam Reinhart is on a scoring tear. Over the last two games, the 30-year-old forward has lit the lamp four times. Since his first season with the Panthers in 2021-22, he’s led the team in goals three times, amassing 193 goals in 392 games. In his career against the Canucks, Reinhart, a Vancouver native, has scored a whopping 11 goals in 19 games.
FIVE KEY STATS
- Carter Verhaeghe has five assists in four games against Vancouver since 2024-25.
- Lars Eller has recorded a point in four of seven games this season.
- Sam Reinhart has scored three power-play goals in his last two games.
- Garnet Hathaway leads the Panthers with 34 hits.
- Sandis Vilmanis has produced a 62.21 expected goals for percentage at 5-on-5.
THEY SAID IT
“It's great to be at home. It’s obviously great to be on the road with all the boys, but I think we'd all rather be at home down here in Florida. It’s up to us to take advantage of home ice here.” -- Matthew Tkachuk on tonight’s matchup with the Canucks
“It takes so much pressure off your 5-on-5 game. When it's not going right, that's when you kind of slow down at 5-on-5. You kind of hope it comes to you rather than jump into that open hole and kind of demand it. Hopefully we can keep building off of it.” -- Sam Reinhart on the power play’s recent success
“Really mature game and a consistent game in his reads. Skating very well. He's stronger this year, for sure. Physically stronger again. He benefited from the time off this summer. Very mature in his reads. There's very little aberration.” -- Paul Maurice on Carter Verhaeghe’s early-season performance
OPPOSITION OUTLOOK
- Elias Pettersson leads the Canucks in scoring with nine points (2G, 7A). After beginning the season on a six-game point streak, the 27-year-old forward has recorded just one assist in his last three games while accruing a -2 plus/minus rating. In his career against the Panthers, he’s produced at better than a point-per-game clip, notching 14 points (6G, 8A) in 13 games.
- The Canucks have had a tough go of it during their losing stretch. During their 0-5-0 stretch, they’ve been outscored 23-9. A key issue has been on the penalty kill, where they’ve survived only 58.8% of opposing power plays. During their losing streak, they’ve surrendered at least four goals on three separate occasions.
- Zeev Buium is still looking to find his footing for the Canucks. The main piece coming back in the trade that sent Norris Trophy winner Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild, Buium, who’s still getting his feet wet in the NHL at just 20 years old, has logged one assist and a -6 plus/minus rating in eight games this season.
- The Canucks placed Aatu Raty on waivers on Wednesday. In four games this season, the 23-year-old forward had scored one goal. In 118 career games, Raty, who appeared in 66 games with Vancouver last season, has scored 14 goals.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
