The Florida Panthers (45-19-4) will look to snap a two-game losing streak when they return to action against the Nashville Predators (40-25-4) tonight at Amerant Bank Arena. After a frustrating 5-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, the Cats got a much-needed four days off to recharge. The Panthers looked dreadful in the first half of the game before flipping the switch and almost pulling off a miraculous comeback against their cross-state rival. Sam Reinhart potted his 47th and 48th goals in the loss. Reinhart is second in the NHL in goals and leads the league in power-play tallies with 27.
The gritty Predators come into the tilt riding a three-game winning streak. After opening a three-game road trip with a one-goal loss to the Minnesota Wild, Nashville picked up victories over the Winnipeg Jets and Seattle Kraken before making a quick stop in Music City, where they destroyed the lowly San Jose Sharks 8-2, on their way to Sunrise. Filip Forsberg leads the Predators in goals (36) and scoring with 74 points while Roman Josi is one of three NHL defensemen to hit 70 points this season.
- WHEN: 7:30 p.m. ET
- WHERE: Amerant Bank Arena – Sunrise, FL
- ON THE TUBE: ESPN+, HULU
- ON THE DIAL: 560 WQAM (D/B), 1230 The Gambler (PB), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)
- SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #Preds, #NSHvsFLA, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: On The Forecheck
- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 2 of 2 (1-0)
- LAST MEETING: FLA 4, @NSH 1 – (Recap) 1/22/2024
- NEXT MEETING: Stanley Cup Final or 2024-25 regular season
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Florida: Bobrovsky (32-14-2 .916 / 2.35 4SO) Nashville: Lankinen (9-4-0 .904 / 2.90 0SO)
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / Nashville
Thursday in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances)
- New York Rangers (45-20-4 94P) at BOSTON (41-14-15 97P) 7 p.m.
- New York Islanders (29-24-15 73P) at DETROIT (35-28-6 76P) 7 p.m.
- St. Louis (36-30-3 75P) at OTTAWA (28-35-4 60P) 7 p.m.
- BUFFALO (33-32-5 71P) at Edmonton (41-21-4 86P) 9 p.m.
- MONTREAL (25-31-12 62P) at Vancouver (43-18-8 94P) 10 p.m.
- TAMPA BAY (37-25-6 80P) at San Jose (16-45-7 39P) 10:30 p.m.
Idle: TOR (87P)