Panthers (13-4-2 28P) vs Hurricanes (12-6-1 25P)
- WHEN: 7:00 p.m. ET
- WHERE: BB&T Center, Sunrise, FL
- ON THE TUBE: FOX Sports Florida, FOX Sports Carolinas
- ON THE DIAL: 560 WQAM (D/B), 640 WMEN (PB), 1370 WAXE (TC), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)
- SOCIALS: #FlaPanthers, #LetsGoCanes, #CARvsFLA, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: Canes Country
- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 2 of 8 (1-0-0)
- LAST MEETING: FLA 4, @CAR 3 (OT) – (Recap) – 2/17/2021
- NEXT MEETING: March 1, 2021
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Bobrovsky (6-2-1 .897/ 3.05 0SO) vs Reimer (8-3-0 .897/ 2.99 0SO)
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / Carolina/
Scouting Report (courtesy of Pickswise)
Two of the top teams in the Central Division will battle on Saturday as the Florida Panthers welcome the Carolina Hurricanes. Florida is 7-3-1 at home this year and currently sit second in the NHL in points. They have won two of their last three games and five of their last seven. They have found their game despite starting goaltender Sergei Bobrovky still working out his issues with a .897 save percentage. The offense has been clicking as Aleksander Barkov continues to impress with three goals in his last five games and more importantly he is a plus four over that span. The Panthers provide a unique challenge for the Hurricanes who are a smaller team that depends heavily on their depth as they lack the star power that Florida has.
The Hurricanes are sixth in the NHL in points but have lost three in a row and only have three goals for total in those games. James Reimer will get the start for Carolina on Saturday but there is no way he is a true number one starter with a .897 save percentage. Teuvo Teravainen will be out for his fifth game with an upper body injury which puts more pressure on Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov neither of who have scored in the last three games. The Panthers top line will be too much for Carolina to handle and their deep defensive core will stop a weak Hurricanes top line.
The last game between these two was a 4-3 barn burner just a week ago. Both teams are in the top ten in goals for per game with the Panthers at 3.21 and the Hurricanes at 3.26. Both teams have top ten power plays above 25 percent and the Panthers have the highest shots per game average at 34.1. Offense is the name of the game for the Panthers and the power play is where a lot of it comes from. Aaron Ekblad has been running the PP from the back end with smooth breakout passes and getting his shots on net which has been the key factor to his six power play points this year.
Saturday in the Central (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances):
- COLUMBUS (8-8-5 21P) at NASHVILLE (8-11-0 16P) 3 p.m.
- DALLAS (6-5-4 16P) at TAMPA BAY (13-4-1 27P) 7 p.m.
- DETROIT(6-13-3 15P)AT CHICAGO (11-6-4 26P) 8 p.m. ESPN+/
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