The Florida Panthers (29-14-4) will play the first segment of a road back-to-back when they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins (21-17-6) tonight at PPG Paints Arena. After dropping four-straight, the Cats have righted the ship by posting wins over the Nashville Predators and Arizona Coyotes. In Wednesday’s 6-2 rout over the Coyotes at Amerant Bank Arena, the line of Matthew Tkachuk (2G/1A), Carter Verhaeghe (3A) and Sam Bennett combined for seven points. Florida’s other Sam, Reinhart notched his 18th power-play goal of the season to extend his current point streak to eleven games.
The Penguins come into tonight’s tilt in the midst of a cold spell, having lost four of their past five games. After dropping overtime decisions to Vancouver and Carolina, Pittsburgh was able to shut out Seattle 3-0 on home ice before heading west where they were beaten by Vegas and Arizona. The incomparable Sidney Crosby leads the Penguins in goals (27) and points (48) while goaltender Tristan Jarry is tied for the league lead in shutouts (5) with Thatcher Demko and Connor Ingram. Pittsburgh will go with Alex Nedeljkovic in the net tonight.
- WHEN: 7:00 p.m. ET
- WHERE: PPG Paints Arena – Pittsburgh, PA
- ON THE TUBE: Bally Sports Florida, SN-Pittsburgh
- ON THE DIAL: Radio Libre 790 (D/B), 1230 The Gambler (PB), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)
- SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #LetsGoPens, #FLAvsPIT, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: Tux Pucks
- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 2 of 3 (1-0)
- LAST MEETING: @FLA 3, PIT 1 – (Recap) 12/8/2023
- NEXT MEETING: February 14, 2024
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Florida: Bobrovsky (22-10-2 .909 / 2.53 2SO) Pittsburgh: Nedeljkovic (8-3-2 .916 / 2.66 1SO)
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / Pittsburgh
Friday in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances)
Idle: BOS (69P), TBL (57), TOR (56P), DET (55P), MON (47P), BUF (46P), OTT (38P)