The Florida Panthers (9-4-1) are on the left coast to face the NHL’s three California clubs starting with tonight’s tilt versus the San Jose Sharks (2-12-1) at SAP Center. Florida kicked off its current 7-1-1 heater with a tricky 3-1 victory over the Sharks on home ice back on October 24. The Panthers pushed their current winning streak to four with wins against the Carolina Hurricanes and Chicago Blackhawks over the weekend. Sam Reinhart leads the offense with 10 goals and 21 points; Matthew Tkachuk has points in six consecutive games; and Sergei Bobrovsky has won his last five starts.
Winless when they visited Sunrise, the bottom-dwelling Sharks have managed to beat a couple of teams (Philadelphia and Edmonton) since the calendar turned to November. Unfortunately, the good times were short-lived as they’ve dropped consecutive games to Vegas and Anaheim after building that modest two-game winning streak. Tomas Hertl is the first, and only, Shark to hit ten points so far, and despite his 2-7-1 record and 4.00 GAA, Mackenzie Blackwood sports a .900 save percentage.
- WHEN: 10:30 p.m. ET
- WHERE: SAP Center – San Jose, CA
- ON THE TUBE: ESPN+, Hulu
- ON THE DIAL: 560 WQAM (D/B), 1230 The Gambler (PB), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)
- SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #SJSharks, #FLAvsSJS, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: Fear The Fin
- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 2 of 2 (1-0-0)
- LAST MEETING: @FLA 3, SJS 1 – (Recap) 10/24/2023
- NEXT MEETING: Stanley Cup Final or 2024-25 season
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Florida: Stolarz (1-1-0 .904 / 2.57 0SO) / San Jose: Blackwood (2-7-1 .900 / 4.00 0SO)
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / San Jose
Tuesday in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances)
- BOSTON (11-1-2 24P) at BUFFALO (7-7-1 15p) 7 p.m.
- Calgary (4-8-2 10P) at MONTREAL (7-6-2 16P) 7 p.m.
- TAMPA BAY (6-5-4 16P) at St. Louis (7-5-1 15P) 8 p.m.
Idle: DET (18P), TOR (18P), OTT (12P)