The surging Florida Panthers (22-12-2) will open a four-game trip west when they face the Arizona Coyotes (19-14-2) for the first time this season at Mullett Arena in Tempe tonight. Florida ended 2023 on hot streak, scoring impressive wins over the Vegas Golden Knights, Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens to strength its hold on second place in the Atlantic Division. Eetu Luostarinen’s first career multi-goal game helped and another solid start from backup Anthony Stolarz helped the Cats earn a 4-1 win over the Canadiens on Saturday night.
The much-improved Coyotes are also coming into the matchup on roll, having won six of their last seven games to close out the calendar year. After posting four straight wins following a four-game losing streak, the Desert Dogs took the second segment of a home-and-home against the Colorado Avalanche in overtime before shutting out the Anaheim Ducks 2-0 at Honda Center on Friday. Clayton Keller leads the Coyotes in scoring with 31 points while former Panthers draft pick Lawson Crouse tops the team with 16 goals.
- WHEN: 9:00 p.m. ET
- WHERE: Mullett Arena – Tempe, AZ
- ON THE TUBE: Bally Sports Florida, Scripps
- ON THE DIAL: 560 WQAM (D/B), 1230 The Gambler (PB), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)
- SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #Yotes, #FLAvsARI, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: Five For Howling
- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 1 of 2
- LAST MEETING: @FLA 5, ARI 3 – (Recap) 1/3/2023
- NEXT MEETING: January 24, 2024
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Florida: Bobrovsky (17-9-1 .911 / 2.50 2SO) / Arizona: Vejmelka (6-7-2 .902 / 3.01 1SO)
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / Arizona
Tuesday in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances)
- BOSTON (22-7-6 50P) at Columbus (12-18-8 32P) 7 p.m.
- MONTREAL (15-16-5 35P) at Dallas (22-9-4 48P) 8 p.m.
- TAMPA BAY (18-15-5 41P) at Winnipeg (22-9-4 48P) 8 p.m.
- OTTAWA (14-18-0 28P) at Vancouver (23-10-3 49P) 10 p.m.
- TORONTO (17-10-7 41P) at Los Angeles (20-8-5 45P) 10:30 p.m. (ESPN+, Hulu)
- DETROIT (17-16-4 38P) at San Jose (9-25-3 21P) 10:30 p.m.
Idle: BUF (34P)