The Florida Panthers (7-4-1) look to maintain their early season success against the Metropolitan Division when they host the Carolina Hurricanes (8-5-0) at Amerant Bank Arena. After back-to-back overtime wins over the Columbus Blue Jackets and Washington Capitals, the Panthers are now 3-0 against the Eastern Conference’s other division. The Cats got a third period goal from Evan Rodrigues to tie the Capitals before Sam Reinhart won it fifteen seconds into the extra session. Florida will be looking to build its first three-game winning streak tonight.
The Hurricanes arrive in Sunrise having won five of its last six games. Like the Cats they’ve posted back-to-back victories (over the New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres) in overtime. In Tuesday’s decision over the Sabres, Martin Necas potted the deciding goal. Antti Raanta was the winning goaltender in both games. He has assumed the number one role with Frederik Andersen on injury reserve due to a blood clotting issue.
- WHEN: 7:00 p.m. ET
- WHERE: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
- ON THE TUBE: Bally Sports Florida, Bally Sports South
- ON THE DIAL: 560 WQAM (D/B), 1230 The Gambler (PB), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)
- SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #CauseChaos, #CARvsFLA, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: Category Five Hockey
- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 1 of 3
- LAST MEETING: CAR 6, FLA 4 – 4/13/2023
- NEXT MEETING: February 22, 2024
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Florida: Bobrovsky (6-3-1 .904 / 2.71 1SO) Carolina: Raanta (4-1-0 .876 / 2.83 1SO)
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / Carolina
Friday in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances)
- Minnesota (5-6-2 12P) at BUFFALO (6-6-1 13P) 7 p.m.
- Calgary (4-7-1 9P) at TORONTO (6-5-2 14P) 7 p.m.
Idle: BOS (23P), DET (16P), TBL (16P), MON (14P), OTT (10P)