The Florida Panthers, coming off their first home loss since Dec. 16, will look to start a new winning streak Thursday night against the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets in Sunrise, Fla.
Florida is 23-4-0 at home.
“We want to win them all,” Panthers forward Sam Bennett said. “We feel like we can.”
It helps that the Panthers have winger Jonathan Huberdeau, who entered Wednesday leading the NHL in points (72) and assists (55). He has an active eight-game points streak, with one goal and 13 assists during that span.
Sam Reinhart is another hot Panthers forward. He has a seven-game points streak, with six goals and six assists during that span.
Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky took a rare loss Tuesday, allowing five goals as the Nashville Predators earned a 6-4 win at Sunrise. Bobrovsky gave up three leads in that game, most crucially allowing the tying goal midway through the third period while Nashville was shorthanded. The Predators then beat Bobrovsky on their power play to grab the lead.
Overall, Bobrovsky has been outstanding this season, posting a 26-5-3 record with a 2.58 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage. It’s easily his best season in three years with the Panthers.
However, his numbers have adjusted upward after a brilliant October (6-0-0, 1.81 GAA, .944 SP).
Bobrovsky, who spent seven seasons with Columbus, is 8-1-1 in his career against the Blue Jackets. This season, he is 2-0-0 against the Jackets as the Panthers pummeled Columbus, 9-2 and 8-4.
Thursday’s game could be a spot for Panthers backup goalie Spencer Knight, who hasn’t played since a 5-2 loss to the New York Rangers on Feb. 1.
Knight has faced Columbus only once, defeating the Blue Jackets 5-1 on April 20, 2021, which was his NHL debut.
This season, Knight is 9-6-2 with a 3.22 GAA and an .898 save percentage.
Meanwhile, Columbus is hot, winning six of its past seven games, including a three-game winning streak.
On Tuesday, Patrik Laine scored in overtime as Columbus beat the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3.
Laine scored twice on Tuesday, extending his point streak to 10 games (12 goals, eight assists). It’s the second-longest point streak of his career, ranking behind his 15-contest run in 2017-18 with Winnipeg.
Only two Columbus players have ever had longer streaks: Ryan Johansen (13) and Cam Atkinson (12).
“He’s got some confidence with the puck,” Columbus coach Brad Larsen said of Laine. “He wants to shoot because he believes it’s going in.”
Laine said Columbus “had a chance to score more” on Tuesday.
Then again, the Jackets have been scoring plenty of late. In their past 10 games, the Jackets are averaging 4.6 goals per contest. They are 8-2-0 during that span.
Playing the Panthers is a different matter. The Jackets have lost eight straight games to Florida, dating to last season. During that streak, Columbus has allowed an average of 5.4 goals per game.
Aside from Laine, Columbus will look to get offense from Boone Jenner and Jakub Voracek. Jenner leads Columbus in overall goals (21), power-play goals (seven) and points (40). Voracek leads the Jackets in assists (33) and power-play assists (14).
Columbus goalie Jean-Francois Berube has played just two games in the NHL this season, and both were wins within the past week. Before this, he hadn’t been in the league since 2017-18.
–Field Level Media