This all feels very familiar..
Who: Florida Panthers (37-36-3, 77 points, 7th place Atlantic Division) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (39-22-16, 94 points, 2nd place Metropolitan Division)
When: 3:00 p.m. ET
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How to Watch: Locally broadcast on Sportsnet Pittsburgh and SCRIPPS, streaming on ESPN+
Pens’ Path Ahead: Ahh, the rare break is ahead. The Pens enjoy their first string of three consecutive days with no games since the Olympic break and are out of action until a road game on Thursday in New Jersey. After that is a home-and-home with the Capitals, Saturday afternoon in Pittsburgh and next Sunday in Washington.
Opponent Track: The Panthers were officially eliminated from the playoffs yesterday after their 9-4 defeat to the Penguins. Florida heads north after today for a game in Montreal on Tuesday.
Season Series: Pittsburgh looks for a season sweep over the defending Cup champions today, having won yesterday and then back in October.
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Hidden Stat: The Panthers have a 16-21-0 road record this season (71-point full season pace) compared to a 21-15-3 record at home (95-point pace). Florida’s 21 road regulation losses rank second worst in the NHL (Calgary, 24).
Getting to know the Panthers
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Mackie Samoskevich – Eetu Luostarinen – A.J. Greer
Noah Gregor – Tomas Nosek – Jesper Boqvist
Nolan Foote – Luke Kunin – Vinnie Hinostroza
DEFENSEMEN
Gustav Forsling / Michael Benning
Donovan Sebrango / Seth Jones
Tobias Bjornfot / Mikulas Hovorka
Goalies: Sergei Bobrovsky and Daniil Tarasov
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Potential scratches: Aaron Ekblad, Dmitry Kulikov, Sam Reinhart, Anton Lundell, Uvis Balinskis, Cole Reinhardt
Injured Reserve: Evan Rodrigues
LTIR: Aleksander Barkov, Brad Marchand, Cole Schwindt, Jonah Godjovich, Niko Mikkola
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It’ll be interesting to see if the Panthers throw Bobrovsky back into the fire after lifting him about halfway through yesterday’s game. His body language looked like he was over it. Maybe he flushes that after a day, the Panthers have basically split the starts (11 for Bob, eight for Tarasov) since the Olympic break. One of them will have to play for a second straight day and it was surely planned to be Tarasov’s game coming into the weekend. Did yesterday’s performance change that? We’ll soon find out!
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Speaking of packing it in, yesterday Tkachuk (0), Bennett (1) and Verhaeghe (2) combined for three shots on goal in yesterday’s game, almost none of them standing out within the game or making much of an impact. Florida doesn’t have much talent left available with four of their top seven scorers on the season already out, if the ones they do have are barely out there it’s going to make the struggles that much more difficult.
Season stats
via hockeydb
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Well, it looks like three-straight years of Stanley Cup Final appearances (not to mention numerous players involved in 4 Nations and Olympics) caught up in a major way with Florida. The tone for the season was set when captain Aleksander Barkov went down with a knee injury in September and was lost for the year. It’s only been downhill from there with injuries and down seasons across the board. Truly a team that’s hit the wall and run out of gas, but what a run they had from 2023-25.
And now for the Pens
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Egor Chinakhov – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust
Tommy Novak – Rickard Rakell – Evgeni Malkin
Anthony Mantha – Ben Kindel – Justin Brazeau
Elmer Soderblom – Connor Dewar – Noel Acciari
DEFENSEMEN
Parker Wotherspoon / Erik Karlsson
Sam Girard / Kris Letang
Ryan Shea / Connor Clifton
Goalies: Stuart Skinner and Arturs Silovs
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Potential Scratches: Ilya Solovyov, Blake Lizotte (injured), Kevin Hayes, Ryan Graves, Jack St. Ivany
IR: Filip Hallander, Caleb Jones (season-ending shoulder surgery)
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It’ll be interesting to see for the Penguins if anyone can’t answer the bell for another game today. Rust, Dewar, Kindel and Brazeau all took some lumps yesterday. Hockey players can play through a lot, and a three-day rest is on the horizon but this might be a time to give someone who isn’t 100% a day off with the bigger picture in mind of hopefully getting them ready for Thursday and beyond.
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