Florida Panthers Game 4 Preview: Cats Visit Philadelphia
Tonight at 7 P.M. ET, the Florida Panthers will try for the fourth time this season to come away with their first victory.
They’ll drop the puck between the Florida Panthers and the Philadelphia Flyers in Wells Fargo Center, in Philadelphia, PA. Florida hasn’t earned a victory since last season, and are coming off a 0-2-0 homestand. After tonight’s game, they’ll hit the road to play the Washington Capitals on Friday night.
The Flyers are 2-3-0 in the early going and are closing up a quick two-game homestand. They’ll hit the road and play the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night.
When We Last Met
On March 4th last season, The Florida Panthers defeated the Flyers, 4-1 in front of 14,428 at the BB&T Center.
Evgeni Dadonov scored two goals, Aleksander Barkov had a goal and an assist, and Jonathan Huberdeau lit the lamp against Philadelphia goaltender Petr Mrazek (22-of-26). Goaltender Roberto Luongo stopped 39-of-40 shots in the victory, which pushed the Panthers to 32-25-6, one game over ‘real’ .500.
“Every time we take the lead it’s tough when the other team ties it up right after. That’s a pattern that’s got to change.” – Panthers coach Bob Boughner, via NHL.com.
The Flyers last game action was also on Saturday, a 1-0 loss to the defending Western Conference Champion Vegas Golden Knights.
Ryan Carpenter assisted Cody Eakin with less than two minutes of regulation remaining for the only score of the game.
Brian Elliott, who stopped 20-of-21 shots, earned what we call a ‘hard-luck loss,’ but the Flyers couldn’t solve Knights netminder Marc-Andre Fleury either. Fleury faced and stopped all 26 Flyers offerings at the net through the game.
“It stinks walking away with nothing to show for it. You don’t get moral points for a loss but we played a [heck] of a hockey game today. Not much there I’d want to change. … This is one of those nights, tip my hat to Fleury in net.” – Flyers coach Dave Hakstol, via NHL.com.
All-Time Series
Florida is 36-45-7-7 all-time against the Flyers. The Florida Panthers .453 point percentage in head-to-head play ranks as their 22nd best against all teams.
This Day in Florida Panthers History
The Florida Panthers own a 4-2-2-1 record on October 16th through their history. In their only meeting on this date against the Flyers, in 2009, the Panthers earned a 4-2 victory.
Stephen Weiss had a goal and an assist, while Radek Dvorak, Nathan Horton, and Steve Reinprecht each also lit the lamp in support of Scott Clemmensen, who stopped 25-of-27 for the win.
Standings
Florida Panthers: 0-2-1, one point, .167 points percentage, on pace for 27 points. Atlantic Division 8th, Eastern Conference 16th, NHL 31st. Last Five: x-x-O-L-L.
Philadelphia Flyers: 2-3-0, four points, .400 points percentage, on pace for 66 points. Metropolitan Division 7th, Eastern Conference 13th, NHL 24th. Last Five: W-L-L-W-L.
Panthers Probable Starting Lineup
63–16–27
11–21–62
78–90–68
72–91–7
Injury Report
Mike Matheson will miss the game due to a two-game suspension for a dirty hit.
Roberto Luongo is out for probably around four weeks due to an MCL strain.
Derek MacKenzie’s upper body injury may keep him out of tonight’s game as well.
Florida Panthers Milestones
Games Played: Alexander Petrovic will tie Kamil Kreps in 44th all-time with his 232nd game played.
Goals: Evgenii Dadonov’s next goal, his 40th, will tie him with Juraj Kolnik, Reilly Smith, and Brandon Pirri in 37th all-time. Aaron Ekblad‘s next goal will be his 54th and will tie him in 21st with Tom Fitzgerald and Tomas Fleischmann.
Jonathan Huberdeau’s next marker will tie him in 10th on the franchise list with Ray Whitney, with number 97. Aleksander Barkov’s next goal will give him 102, moving him into sole possession of seventh on the franchise leaderboard.
Assists: Dadonov’s next assist will move him past Shawn Matthias into a tie in 49th place with Niklas Hagman. Nick Bjugstad‘s next helper will give him 98, tying him with Bill Lindsay in 18th all time. Barkov’s next will be his 151st, moving him out of a tie with Jay Bouwmeester and into sole possession of 10th on the all-time list.
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Points: Dadonov’s next point will be #89, tying him in 44th with Valeri Bure. Keith Yandle has 99 points, and will tie Jody Hull in 40th with his next. Barkov’s next point will move him out of a tie with Pavel Bure in 10th, with 251.
Wins: James Reimer has 40 wins with the Panthers, tied in fifth with the aforementioned Clemmensen. His next victory will leave him two shy of #4 on the list, Mark Fitzpatrick.
Stat Leaders
Goals: Dadonov, Trocheck, Barkov, Huberdeau, Bjugstad, Troy Brouwer, and Jacob MacDonald all tied with one.
Assists: Dadonov, Trocheck, and Keith Yandle are all tied with two.
Shots: Yandle – 12, Barkov – 11, Dadonov, Huberdeau, Mike Hoffman – 10
Blocked Shots: Petrovic, Mark Pysyk – 5, Yandle, Trocheck, Bjugstad, Mike Matheson – 3
Hits: Petrovic – 8, Jared McCann – 7, Pysyk, Trocheck, Brouwer – 6
FO% (minimum three per team-games played): Bjugstad – 66.7%, Trocheck – 51.7%, McCann – 51.5%, Juho Lammikko – 50.0%, Barkov – 48.4%
Extra Credit
Like Philly Cheese Steaks and Freedom? So does this man.
Next. Mike Matheson Suspended For Next Two Games. dark
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