The Florida Panthers (49-24-6) continue their regular season-ending homestand when they host the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets (26-41-12) tonight at Amerant Bank Arena. After suffering through an extended rough patch, the Panthers have picked up five of a possible six points over the last three games, with both of the victories coming against the Ottawa Senators. In Tuesday’s game, Anthony Stolarz posted his second shutout of the season and set up Anton Lundell’s game-opening power-play goal as the Panthers completed the season-series sweep of the Senators with a 2-0 win.
After a franchise-best run of four straight postseason appearances from 2017-2020, the Blue Jackets will miss the playoffs for the fourth-straight season and finish the 2023-24 campaign with the worst record in the Eastern Conference for the second year in a row. Columbus had won three of four before dropping road games to the Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning. Leading goal-scorer Kirill Marchenko tallied both markers in the 5-2 loss to the Bolts on Tuesday. The Blue Jackets will be looking to avoid getting swept by the Panthers. Columbus took the Cats to overtime in November before getting beaten 5-2 in Sunrise in December.
- WHEN: 7:00 p.m. ET
- WHERE: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
- ON THE TUBE: Bally Sports Florida, Bally Sports Ohio
- ON THE DIAL: 560 WQAM (D/B), 1230 The Gambler (PB), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)
- SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #CBJ, #CBJvsFLA, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: The Cannon
- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 3 of 3 (2-0)
- LAST MEETING: FLA 5, @CBJ 2 – (Recap) 12/10/2023
- NEXT MEETING: 2024-25 regular season
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Florida: Bobrovsky (34-17-4 .913 / 2.43 5SO) Columbus: Greaves (2-4-0 .916 / 3.04 0SO)
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / Columbus
Thursday in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances)
- Washington (37-30-11 85P) at BUFFALO (37-37-5 79P) 7 p.m.
- DETROIT (38-32-8 84P) at Pittsburgh (36-30-12 84P) 7 p.m.
- OTTAWA (34-40-4 72P) at TAMPA BAY (44-27-7 95P) 7 p.m.
- New Jersey (37-37-5 79P) at TORONTO (46-23-9 101P) 7 p.m.
- MONTREAL (30-36-12 72P) at New York Islanders (36-27-15 87P) 7 p.m.
Idle: BOS (107P)