Panthers (15-5-4 34P) at Blue Jackets (10-11-5 25P)
- WHEN: 7:00 p.m. ET
- WHERE: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH
- ON THE TUBE: FOX Sports Florida, Fox Sports Ohio
- ON THE DIAL: 560 WQAM (D/B), 640 WMEN (PB), 1370 WAXE (TC), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)
- SOCIALS: #FlaPanthers, #CBJ, #FLAvsCBJ, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: Jackets Cannon
- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 3 of 8 (1-0-1)
- LAST MEETING: @CBJ 3, FLA 2 (SO) – (Recap) – 1/28/2021
- NEXT MEETING: March 11, 2021
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Bobrovsky (8-2-2 .900/ 3.02 0SO) vs Korpisalo (7-8-4 .894/ 3.15 0SO)
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / Columbus/
Scouting Report
The race in the Central Division is tight and the Florida Panthers sit right in the mix. The Panthers have two wins in their last three games and are 8-2-1 on the road as they head to Columbus to face the Blue Jackets on Tuesday night. Florida will start Sergei Bobrovsky, who has won three of his last four starts with a .920 save percentage and 2.70 goals against average over those games. The Panthers’ stars lead the team both on and off the ice and that has been clear in their games of late. Jonathan Huberdeau is playing inspired hockey with five points in his last three games, but not to be out done is Aleksander Barkov who has seven assists over his last five games as he is on a six-game point streak. These two will pick apart a Blue Jackets defense that is not buying into John Tortorella’s system.
Columbus has lost six of their last eight games and has a goals for average of only 2.62. Players can tell this is a sinking ship and are looking at the possibility of being traded. Seth Jones is minus 11 on the year and looks to be battling an injury while Max Domi has not fit into Columbus as he is minus 13 and can’t be trusted in the defensive zone. But the big trade that was supposed to boost the Blue Jackets has not worked out as Patrik Laine is minus seven on the year and has no points in his last six games. Even captain Nick Foligno has no goals over his last 13 games and this Columbus team will be easy pickings for the Panthers.
Full preview at Pickswise
Tuesday in the Central (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances):
- NASHVILLE (11-14-0 22P) at CAROLINA (17-6-1 35P) 7 p.m.
- TAMPA BAY (17-4-2 36P) at DETROIT (7-16-3 17P) 7:30 p.m. ESPN+
- CHICAGO (13-8-5 31P) at DALLAS (7-8-5 19P) 8:30 p.m. NBCSN/
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