VANCOUVER, B.C. – Sergei Bobrovsky will man the crease for the 800th time in his NHL career when the Florida Panthers visit the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Tuesday.
The 18th goaltender in NHL history to reach 800 games, Bobrovsky, a future member of the Hall of Fame, is also just one win away from tying Curtis Joseph for seventh on the all-time wins list.
Of his 799 career games to date, 342 have come in a Panthers sweater.
“When you see future Hall of Fame players, the few guys that I’ve coached like that, one of the hardest things to do as you get older is all the little things you need to do to be great, and he puts so much time into his game,” head coach Paul Maurice said of Bobrovsky’s longevity. "He must have an incredible passion for the game, a love for the game, to put in the hours he puts in every day. It’s every piece of his life – what he eats, when he sleeps – all of those things it takes to be great. There’s no fatigue in that part of him.”
In front of Bobrovsky, the Panthers will be getting a massive piece of their blue line back against the Canucks as Seth Jones is expected to suit up for the first time since Jan. 2.
Suffering an upper-body injury against the New York Rangers in the 2026 NHL Winter Classic, Jones led Florida’s D-men in goals (6), assists (18) and points (24) prior to being knocked out of the lineup.
With Jones coming back, Niko Mikkola will take a breather.
“He touches all areas,” Maurice said of Jones. “He’s a power play guy; he’s a penalty kill guy. He plays against the other team’s best. He’s as good a defender as he is an offensive player. I think he’s got a really good sense of when to jump in and make things happen.”
On the first stop of their four-game road trip, the Panthers saw their winning streak end at three games with a 6-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Sunday.
In the loss, the Panthers took the ice without their top three scorers as Sam Reinhart (61 points), Brad Marchand (54 points) and Sam Bennett (50 points) were all out with injuries.
Bennett is expected to return tonight, while Marchand Reinhart remain sidelined.
Acquired from the Minnesota Wild at the trade deadline, Vinnie Hinostroza scored against the Kraken, giving him three points (2G, 1A) in three games since joining the Panthers. Eetu Luostarinen also scored in the loss, while Daniil Tarasov turned aside 19 of 25 shots in net.
Recalled from the AHL on Sunday, Nolan Foote will make his Panthers debut in Vancouver.
The son of two-time Stanley Cup champion Adam Foote, who is serendipitously now the head coach of the Canucks, Foote has tallied nine points (6G, 3A) in 30 career NHL games.
Prior his call-up, the 25-year-old forward had scored 14 goals in 54 games with Charlotte.
With Foote and Bennett coming in, Evan Rodrigues and Luostarinen will come out.
“It’s obviously exciting,” Foote said of making his debut with Florida. “It’s been almost a year since I’ve played last in the NHL. It’s really exciting. I’ve watched them play all year. I’ve had a good year in Charlotte, so it’s going to be good.”
At the bottom of the standings in the entire NHL, the rebuilding Canucks enter tonight’s matchup with a 20-38-8 record and have won twice in their last 12 contests.
Struggling mightily in all facets of the game, the Canucks currently rank 32nd in the NHL on offense (2.12 goals per game) and 32nd on defense (4.04 goals allowed per game). On special teams, they rank 32nd on the power play (12.7%) and 32nd on the penalty kill (63.5%).
Tied for the scoring lead on the Canucks, Elias Pettersson and Filip Hronek have each logged 38 points. Brock Boeser and Jake DeBrusk are next up on the leaderboard with 32 points apiece, with Boeser also leading the team in goals with 16.
Kevin Lankinen is expected to get the nod in net against Florida. Owning a 7-21-5 record with a 3.65 goals-against average and a .877 save percentage this season, the 30-year-old netminder hasn’t ended up on the winning end of a game since Jan. 29.
That said, Lankinen has had success in his career against the Panthers, going 7-3-2 with a .926 save percentage and three shutouts in 12 career head-to-head games.
Meeting for the second and final time this season, the Panthers previously earned an 8-5 win over the Canucks on Nov. 17 at Amerant Bank Arena. In the win, seven different Panthers found the back of the net, with Jones scoring twice to earn first-star honors.
“If we play like we played in Seattle, these guys are going to look like the most skilled team in the National Hockey League because Seattle looked like the most skilled team in the National Hockey League,” Maurice said of needing to bounce back after the loss to the Kraken. “If we play that game, we can’t beat anyone. Our situation has to get sorted out before we can worry about the Canucks.”
THEY SAID IT
“With the success they’ve had – three Finals in a row and two wins in a row – you just try to soak it all in and learn fast much as you can from these older guys and what they know about the game and all the knowledge they have with it.” – Nolan Foote on preparing for his first game as a Panther
“He was the big piece that went down. We survived [all our other injuries] because of him for the longest time. You just look at our analytics, when he came out of the lineup it changed the way we looked and played. Everybody is excited to get him back.” – Paul Maurice on Seth Jones returning from injury
FIVE CATS STATS
- Matthew Tkachuk has recorded 20 points (8G, 12A) in 19 games this season.
- Thirteen different Panthers have hit the 20-point mark this season.
- Tomas Nosek is expected to appear in his 500th NHL game tonight.
- Anton Lundell has scored two goals in his last four games vs. Vancouver.
- The Panthers rank seventh in the NHL on the penalty kill (82.2%).
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Forwards
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Jesper Boqvist – Anton Lundell – Mackie Samoskevich
A.J. Greer – Tomas Nosek – Cole Reinhardt
Nolan Foote – Luke Kunin – Vinnie Hinostroza
Defensemen
Gustav Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Dmitry Kulikov – Seth Jones
Donovan Sebrango – Mike Benning
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
Daniil Tarasov
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
- March 15: F Nolan Foote recalled from Charlotte (AHL)
- March 12: D Mike Benning recalled from Charlotte (AHL)
- March 7: F Sandis Vilmanis and D Tobias Bjornfot loaned to Charlotte (AHL)
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
When: Tuesday, March 17 at 10 p.m. ET
Where: Rogers Place – Vancouver, B.C.
TV & Streaming: WSFL, WHDT, WFTX, PanthersPlus.TV
Radio: 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
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