Florida: 27-19-11 (65PTS)
Anaheim: 24-24-10 (58PTS)
Game Time: 6:00 PM EST
Television: Fox Sports Florida, Prime
Radio: 560 WQAM

The Panthers lost another two games in a row this week, one to the Washington Capitals, but the story of the day is not the Capitals' loss yesterday preserving the Cats' two point lead. Today will be game 613 for Stephen Weiss, tying him for the franchise lead with Radek Dvorak. The Panthers have not done particularly well in milestone games the last few years, but one hopes they can put together a better three periods than they did against the Capitals on Friday night. The Ducks will be a tough opponent. After a slow start, they've come to life under new coach Bruce Boudreau, hired 72 hours after he was dismissed by the Capitals. The Capitals have yet to right the ship, while the Ducks, at the bottom of the league early in the season, are pushing towards a playoff spot that was thought all but unattainable. The Panthers haven't been very good in their few games against Anaheim, but goaltender Jose Theodore, who's spent some time in the Western Conference, has been respectable against them. Defenseman Brian Campbell has 21 points in 28 games against the Ducks, including three goals.

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Florida: 27-18-11 (65PTS)
Washington: 28-23-5 (61PTS)
Season Series: 2-2-0
Game Time: 7:30 PM EST
Television: Fox Sports Florida, Comcast SportsNet
Radio: 560 WQAM

The Panthers hold the Southeast Division lead by four points as the second place Washington Capitals make their final visit to Sunrise this season. The Panthers are third in the Eastern Conference by virtue of leading the division, while the Capitals are sitting in ninth place, one place out of a playoff spot and three points behind the eighth-place Toronto Maple Leafs. The Panthers need a win tonight to keep their distance from the Capitals while the Capitals need the win not only to catch up to the Leafs and Panthers, but to stay ahead of the Winnipeg Jets, who are one point back in tenth place. The teams have split the games this season, with Tomas Vokoun getting two shutout wins in Washington and Scott Clemmensen picking up two wins in Sunrise. The Panthers will need a better effort than they showed in the second period against Ottawa on Wednesday night if they want to extend their division lead.

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Florida: 27-17-11 (65PTS)
Ottawa: 29-22-8 (66PTS)
Season Series: 0-1-1
Game Time: 7:30 PM EST
Television: None
Radio: 560 WQAM

The Ottawa Senators visit South Florida for the first time this season. The Panthers are coming in hot off back-to-back wins in New Jersey and Long Island last weekend, while the Sens shut out the Lightning 4-0 last night in Tampa. The Senators have more or less owned the Panthers the last few years, but the Cats really need to get past them to keep putting some distance between themselves and the Capitals. Tonight's game will not be televised because it's in the national blackout zone. Usually when a Canadian team is playing, the game is still broadcast in Canada, but that will not be the case this evening. Randy Moller will have the game call on WQAM tonight, and even without a television feed, we'll be chatting in the game thread tonight at the usual time.

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Florida: 26-17-11 (63PTS)
New York Islanders: 23-23-8 (54PTS)
Season Series: 2-0-0
Game Time: 3:00 PM EST
Television: Fox Sports Florida, MSG Plus
Radio: 640 WFTL

The Panthers make their second afternoon start of the weekend on Long Island today. The Cats' win yesterday gave them a two point lead over the Capitals in the Southeast Division. Both teams have 28 games remaining. The Panthers' point total is also good enough for a playoff berth on its own again, though they would be the eighth seed if not leading the division. The team has the chance to increase that lead today against the Islanders, who are in a three-way tie for twelfth place with Tampa Bay and Buffalo. Washington plays the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden at 12:30. The Rangers are 1-1 against the Capitals this season. Both games were in DC. The Panthers need to show some killer instinct and win today's game, even if it is the second of back to backs. There may be as many as three players in the game who didn't play yesterday, which may help the Cats some. One of those three is starting goaltender Jose Theodore, who has missed a ton of games in 2012, but who appears ready to return.

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Florida: 25-17-11 (61PTS)
New Jersey: 31-19-4 (66PTS)
Season Series: 1-1-1
Game Time: 1:00 PM EST
Television: Fox Sports Florida, MSG Plus 2
Radio: 640 WFTL

This afternoon is the last game of the season against Pete DeBoer's New Jersey Devils. The Panthers won the first matchup and have lost the last two. The Panthers reclaimed first in the Southeast Division by virtue of a game on hand on the Capitals, but they need to string some wins together to lock the division lead. The Cats have a good chance to pick up points this weekend. The Devils have been good, but the Panthers have, for the most part, played well against them this season. While Patrik Elias complained about losing to a "one line" team early in the season, the second and third lines are now scoring, with the second line of Sean Bergenheim, Marcel Goc and Mikael Samuelsson in particular having a few good games in the last couple of weeks. The early start in particular means the Panthers have to be better at the beginning of the first period than they have been. If they can play a good first five, they have a good chance to win this one.

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Florida: 24-17-11 (59PTS)
Washington: 26-18-10 (62PTS)
Game Time: 7:30 PM EST
Television: Fox Sports Florida, Fox Sports West
Radio: 640 WFTL

The Panthers find themselves in a familiar position tonight: looking up at a playoff spot. What is unfamiliar, perhaps, is that they are two points out with 30 games left in the season. The Kings are 5-3-2 in their last ten while the Panthers are 3-4-3. Additionally, the Cats have not beaten the Kings since November 2002. Jani Hurme had the win in that one and the only current Cat in the game was Stephen Weiss. The only active players playing for the Cats that night were Weiss, Olli Jokinen, Andreas Lilja, Jay Bouwmeester and Kristian Huselius. What we're saying is that it's been a while. But the time for the Panthers to step up is now, if they want to be playing hockey after April 7. The stats don't matter and the history doesn't matter. What matters is getting a solid start, not giving up an early goal and putting some pucks in the net.

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Florida: 24-16-11 (59PTS)
Washington: 27-21-4 (58PTS)
Season Series: 2-1-0
Game Time: 7:00 PM EST
Television: Fox Sports Florida, Comcast Sports Net
Radio: 560 WQAM

The battle for the Southeast Division continues tonight as the Panthers take on the Capitals in Washington tonight. The teams are once again only a point apart in the standings and the winner of tonight's game will hold the lead in the division tomorrow and the loser will be sitting in ninth place in the Eastern Conference. The Panthers have won the last two meetings, but the home team has taken every game so far in the season series. The Panthers are still without starting goaltender Jose Theodore and several forwards while the Caps are missing Nicklas Backstrom and a few others. Caps forward Brooks Laich was expected to be out with a knee injury, but skated this morning and will be a game-time decision.

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Florida: 24-15-11 (59PTS)
Tampa Bay: 22-23-5 (49PTS)
Season Series: 3-1-1 Tampa Bay
Game Time: 7:00 PM EST
Television: Fox Sports Florida, Sun Sports
Radio: 560 WQAM

Tonight is the last game of the season between the Panthers and Lightning. The Panthers have pretty much owned the Lightning since the Cats came into the league, but this season marks the first season since 2007-08 that the Panthers haven't won the season series. The two teams tied that year. Conversely, the Lightning have the chance to win their first season series against the Panthers since the 2003-04 season. One point for the Lightning will clinch the series, while a Panthers regulation victory would leave the teams tied. Of course, what matters more to each team is picking up the two points for a win. The Panthers again have a slim lead in the Southeast Division and want to hold it while the Lightning are still nine points out of a playoff spot with 32 games left.

More from our Tampa Bay cohorts at Raw Charge.
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